Take Me There
by TheSoggyBug
Summary: Clary and Jace decide to take a break from New York and go to Hawaii for a little training excursion. We all know what that means, but Jocelyn, being Jocelyn, insists Isabelle comes with the two. Clary/Jace Rated T for fluff. *wink*
1. Chapter 1

_Hey everyooonne! I don't feel like blabbing on about "my first Mortal Instruments fanfic I've posted", so instead, I will give you all a word of advice; never stick your fingers in a lawn mower. Thank you. _

_I don't own any of the characters or places or anything like that. Obviously. ^.^_

**oOo**

Clary Fray was in a taxi on the way back to her new dad's, Luke's, house, when her phone buzzed. Shaking water out of her hair—it was raining outside—she fished it out of her bag. A message from her mother, who _finally_ learned how to text. Clary scanned her eyes over it and frowned.

Her mother, Jocelyn, and Luke had just got married and were currently in Idris, finishing up their honeymoon/business trip. Jocelyn claimed they were coming back tomorrow morning, and she was welcome to go to sleep back at her own home instead of Simons; they'd arrive before she woke up. But the text stated that their trip back had been delayed due to something-or-other. Clary hated politics.

With a sigh, she texted a quick 'okay' back and flicked her phone shut.

Lately, things have been crazy-busy with her. Since the Mortal War was over, Clary had been put in training. Adult Clave members—some she knew, some she didn't—came thrice a week to train her. They worked on more strenuous, important things such as rune endurance and battle instruction. But for lesser things like hand-in-hand combat, singular skills, and basic knowledge, Clary was usually allowed to have Isabelle or Jace train her. Of course, she wouldn't consider any time she spent with Jace "training". Most of the time it involved making out, actually. Maybe that's why Isabelle insisted at being every training session…

Clary had second thoughts as the grisly driver pulled up to the sidewalk in front of Luke' bookstore. Quickly, as not to aggravate the cab driver _too_ much, she reopened here phone and pressed speed dial 2. For a second the other end rang, and then it was picked up.

"Yellow?" The voice was garbled through the static cast by the rain.

"Simon,"

Simon seemed only a tiny bit surprised. "Clary? Is everything okay?"

Clary saw from the rearview-mirror the driver glance back with an annoyed face. She ignored him. "Mom just texted and said her and Luke were delayed. You mind if I stay another night or two at your place?"

"Of course! But…" for a second Simon's voice was cut off by static. "…stay at the Institute?"

She sighed. "I told you, that's one of Mom's rules. No over nights without her supervision."

Simon laughed. "She still doesn't trust Jace? Oh well. Yeah, you can stay."

"Kay. See you in a few." Clary hung up and shoved the phone back in her bag.

The cab driver turned around in his seat, near-fuming. "So what is it, girl? In or out?"

"Take me back to where I came from."

He grunted and jammed the stick shift back into 'drive'.

Ever since the secret about Shadowhunters had been revealed, Jocelyn had changed. She became more lenient on hours spent alone, but even that had a cost. There were rules Clary had to follow: no overnights at the Institute unless Jocelyn was there; always have at least two experienced Shadowhunter with you when hunting; and no hunting at all until further notice. Jace, of course, was fine with the last rule. He was very sheltering almost to the point of over-protectiveness. But aside from that, he was more than Clary could ever hope for.

A while passed and the cab rolled to a stop in front of Simon's small house that he shared with his mother.

"Nineteen-eighty." Said the cab driver, eyebrows scrunched into a thick line.

Clary handed him a twenty, got the change, and was just about to exit when the car door abruptly opened for her. Someone slid in, gave the cab driver different directions, and turned to Clary. His curled blond hair and muscular body was impossible to mistake.

"What are you doing here?" Clary asked, her eyes subconsciously following the dark shape of Simon's house as it melted into the shadows behind him.

"Change of plans." Jace squinted out the window. "You're coming back to the Institute with me."

"What? What about Simon?"

"What about him?" The corner of his mouth twitched into the usual sarcastic grin.

"I'm not allowed to stay at the Institute."

"Maryse contacted Jocelyn."

"Why all the hassle?" Clary opened her phone and sent a quick cancellation text off to Simon. "Simon's fine with me staying with him."

Sadly enough, his friends and family _still_ didn't know he was a vampire.

"You don't like the idea of staying with me?" Tawny eyes sparkled with amusement. "Afraid I'll sneak into your room in the middle of the night and do something naughty?" Jace put his finger to his lips and waggled his eyebrows.

Clary laughed. "Probably."

The cab pulled up a little ways away from the dilapidated church, the driver frowning. Glamours hid the real fortress from the eyes of mundanes. Clary gathered her stuff in her arms and Jace opened the door for her.

Since the past two weeks Clary had been staying at Simons' house, he had borrow his mom's car to drive her to the Institute almost every day a week. He claimed he didn't mind, but Clary knew that any time he spent driving her back and forth meant less time he could be spending with his girlfriend, Mia. Thankfully, Simon was gradually getting over the feelings he had for Clary. Of course, he'd always love her, but his heart is opening wider to love Mia a little more. Isabelle was still wavering in and out of the picture, but that relationship probably wasn't going anywhere.

With the bags tucked under their arms, Clary and Jace stepped into the entryway. Funnily enough, the moment they set the luggage down on the metal benches, the creaky elevators opened and Isabelle fluttered out in her full Isabelle-ness; a billowy forest green dress, usual freaky heels, and her hair braided with ribbons into two plaits.

"Clary!" She beamed, then glanced at Jace and back at her. "So he brought you back intact, did he? No mugging? Raping?" Izzy put her hands on her slim hips and faced her brother.

"Only a bit." Jace winked.

Only sparing a small smile, Isabelle grabbed Clary's wrist. "Enough stalling, Mom wants to talk to you, Clarissa." She let go and pressed the elevator button.

Clary, who hadn't said a word, snorted in annoyance and made to grab her bags again, but Jace's finger on the top of her hand stopped her.

"We can get them later." He said, not drawing back, but slipping his hand around hers instead.

She happily squeezed back, luggage all but forgotten. Though her tight jeans and tank-top was nothing compared to Isabelle's allure, Jace looked as though he had won the lottery.

The elevator groaned upwards, carrying the three upwards through the familiar Institute. When it squealed to a stop, they stepped out onto the landing. Church, the fat gray Persian cat, greeted then with a muted meow. He stretched his paws out in front of him, yawned once, and then turned around to pad off down the corridor. Thinking nothing of this, they pursued.

Jace kept Clary close to his side, as usual, occasionally reaching over to brush his opposite hand on her hair or back. She let him.

As they had assumed, Maryse was in the library. Church stopped the tall pair of doors and sat on his haunches.

"Thank you, Church." Jace gave the cat a fond pat on the head with his foot, and followed Isabelle into the library.

Maryse was behind the ornate wooden desk, shuffling some papers absentmindedly. Her long black hair was pulled back into a bun away from her face, stuck with a pair of shiny chopsticks. For an elder Shadowhunter, she was very put-together and fair. Though the past year seemed to have aged her more than the past ten had (according to Jace), she seemed to be doing as much as she could to be more of a parent to Izzy and Alec. Alec, obviously, was currently in Bermuda with Magnus, but they didn't worry.

Maryse looked up, and upon seeing the three teenagers, a teensy smile stretched across her mouth. "Ah. You're here. Thank you, Jace." She straightened up from her project and came over. "I called Jocelyn a bit ago and got permission to keep you until they get back."

"But, uh, why?" Clary adjusted her hand in Jace's and blinked at Maryse. She had become considerably warmer to Clary after the Mortal War, and felt less inclined to be formal to each other, now that she was considered Jace's mother, too. "Simon's fine with me staying with him."

From beside her, Jace snorted, but no one reacted.

"Early tomorrow morning Chartreuse Actiecia is coming for training. Instead of waking Simon that early, it's easier to just have you stay here."

Simple enough to understand. Thankfully, most people have stopped calling Simon "Daylighter". Except of course, Jace, who had an astounding list of nicknames he used quite often for Clary's best friend.

"Oh. Okay." Clary blinked awkwardly, unsure what to say now that that was covered. But apparently Maryse wasn't done.

"But she laid out some rules."

Inwardly, Clary wondered why her mother didn't tell her that in her text, but decided she was probably too busy.

Maryse, abandoning her formal manner, have her adopted son a pointed look. "Rooms are for one person only, no sneaking out in the middle of the night to share. That means behave, Jace."

Jace held up with hands in defense, but grinned.

"And do your best, training-wise." She gave a small smile to all three of them, and turned to her daughter. "You can show Clary her room."

_I already have a room_? Clary wondered, but didn't say anything. Izzy grabbed her wrist and bounced off back out the library, dragging Clary along behind. Jace followed, of course, but seemed in a considerably more cheerful mood ever since Maryse commented on sneaking out. When they stopped in front of a door, Clary began recognized its neighbor. The black splatters of paint on the door told her nothing other than it was Izzy's room.

"How come I get the one right next to you?" Clary asked, out of curiosity more than anything.

"So I know if Jace comes." She said nonchalantly, and kicked open the door.

"How come no one trusts me?" The blond Shadowhunter threw up his hands again.

"Shut up and get Clary's bags."

With a snort and a ruffle of her hair, he left.

Isabelle, satisfied with being able to boss her brother around, waved Clary inside her new room. "I'll wake you in the morning for training."

"Noo…" Clary hated when Iz woke her up; it usually involved either yelling or forehead-smashing. "I can wake myself, thanks."

"At five."

That was really early, even for her. Clary did her best not to object, and she punched the time in on her phone. "Fine. Good night, Izzy." She gave a tired smile to her friend. It was quite late in the afternoon—nine o'clock—and she didn't sleep well last night. Thankfully, she didn't need to train that day, so she just stayed at home with Simon and Mia playing video games. Mia was okay, for a werewolf.

"Good night!" Isabelle fluttered her glittery black eyelashes at Clary and skipped off. She was thankful she knew Iz so well, or she'd hate her.

Blinking dryness out of her eyes, Clary stepped into the guest room. Strangely enough, it seemed as though it was already fixed to her liking, as if her stay had been anticipated. The bed was made, like all the other guest rooms, except there was a clean white nightgown draped over the end. Though Clary had her own pajamas back downstairs, she welcomed this. It was soft, heavy, and smelled like Jace. Well….maybe all Shadowhunters smelled like sunshine.

Clary, after tucking the gown under her arm, went to explore the cavernous water house known as the bathroom. Happily enough, it was fully-stocked with everything she needed: shampoo, soap, towels, etc. But she didn't feel like showering right then, so she just stripped off her clothes and pulled the nightdress on. The head-gap was a bit larger than usual, so it hung loosely on her shoulders, exposing some skin. The gown looked like something people long ago would have worn.

Sleepiness was weighing Clary down by the time she crawled into bed. Strangely enough, Jace _still_ hadn't arrived with her bags, so she decided to crawl into bed and wait.

It was quiet in her room; the roar of cars was muted by the closed window, no gusts of wind pounded on the side of the Institute. Listening to the quiet sounds of home, Clary shut her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**oOo**

_Congratulations! You made it through chapter one! I must tell you, the next will be much fluffier. Training with Jace, so you know what THAT means __**wink wink**__. Hehehehe…Anyways, review and tell me what you think about it! More fluff coming up, I swear. :D_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you everyone for the awwessoooome reviews for the last chapter! Actually, the number of reviews wasn't bad at all, for the first chapter. So thank you and I hope this chapter meets all of your fluffy standards! Warning: mild language (it is, after all, Mortal Instruments…)_

_OOH! I almost forgot. Okay, see, I've read City of Fallen Angels already, and if you have, you might notice teensy little details I've put in here that are from that book. But I won't, repeat, WILL NOT give anything away. Just tiny, insignificant details I took from the book, and again, I don't own ANYTHING. So here you are._

_Oh, and one more thing, yes, I've known I've misspelled "Maia". And I'm sorry. It won't happen again. XD_

**oOo**

About a half-hour later, Clary opened her eyes again. She didn't know what woke her; there was no knocking at the door, no crazy sounds from outside, not anything. Exhaling a tiny bit, she rolled over in hopes of a more comfortable position, but was startled. The hazy light that managed to worm its way into her room had silhouetted someone sitting on the chair next to her bed.

Clary let out a noise of surprise, then realized who it was. She laid back on her pillow, annoyed.

"Did I wake you?" Jace asked, not bothering to use his whisper-voice. He didn't seem apologetic; just curious.

"I'm not sure. You tell me." Clary sat up, pushing her hair from her eyes. If he could have come ten minutes earlier…

Jace didn't seem to have registered the annoyance in her voice, either that or was ignoring it. "I brought your bags."

"That explains why you were watching me sleep." She forced as much sarcasm in her words as she could muster. Well, now that she was awake, there was no point in trying to sleep again with him there. And besides, this was specifically against the rules. She would get in serious trouble if anyone found out. And Izzy—ooh, Izzy. She was in the next room.

Jace grinned. "It can if you want it to."

There was a moment of silence in which the mood changed. Jace's grin faded, and he just resorted to staring at Clary without saying anything. His hands were laced on his lap in front of him, and brilliant golden hair was falling in front of his eyes. Clary was getting slightly uncomfortable under the weight of his gaze, and grew increasingly aware of the loose shoulder fit of her gown. So she just laid down and pulled the blankets back up to her chin.

"I'm going back to sleep, if that's all. Feel free to leave before Isabelle finds out you're visiting my room at night to watch me sleep." She closed her eyes.

But the second she did so, she felt Jace's hand brush her jawbone as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Jace, you—we—can't. Isabelle is right next door. We'd be in so much trouble." Though Clary's words were painfully true, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him onto the bed next to her. "We can't."

He leaned forwards on his elbows, looking slightly put off, but never less 'Jace' than usual. One of his hands still reached forwards to trace the lines of Clary's face and collarbone. He knew her weakness, which amused him. "She won't find out. She's fast asleep."

Clary shook her head. Of _course_ he'd make some excuse. Never mind it's strictly against the rules. In fact, Jace really shouldn't be in there in the first place. Jocelyn and Maryse were trusting them both.

"Go back to your room, Jace. Before someone finds you in here and gets us both in big trouble." She pressed her face into a pillow and pulled the blankets up to her ears.

Jace was silent for a second. Then, without saying anything, got up out of his chair and stalked back to the door. Clary watched him through slit eyes, but a sudden rush of…_something _came over her and she sat up. He caught the movement from the corner of his eye and stopped.

Clary opened her mouth to justify, but shut it just as soon. Enraged, she threw off the blankets. "Damn, you, Jace. Why do you have to—?" She hissed, and clutched her head in her hands. Slowly, she let in a deep breath and let it back out. Clary brought her hands down to her hips. "You're just a glutton for trouble, aren't you?"

Jace, who looked quite pleased that he'd gotten her out of bed, cocked his head in amusement and whistled quietly. "Someone's a grumpy-bunny."

Of course, now that she was uncovered, Clary felt even MORE self-conscious in her nightdress with the collar that hung loose and low on her. She adjusted the material closer to her neck insecurely. "You woke me up and decide to blatantly go against the rules. Staying here is rare and a privilege and my mom already doesn't trust you that much. If _anyone_ finds out about this, I am going to be in so much trouble. Especially if it's _Isabelle_ who finds out. There's plenty of time to spend with me without breaking the rules."

Jace blinked. He seemed to be weighing letting Clary win and leaving her alone, with staying and getting what he wanted. They both knew his obvious choice. So instead of answering, he changed the subject. "I like how your gown is practically falling off your shoulders. Whose is it? Izzy's?"

She turned red. "Is it any of your business?"

He shrugged, but again didn't answer. Past Clary he walked, ignoring her piercing glare, all the way to the window where he leaned on the sill. For a few minutes he stayed silent and still, still paying no heed to Clary. Everything was hushed once again; the muted honks of New York City behind the window Jace was leaning against. Startled by the moment of peace, Clary walked quietly up next to Jace and leaned on the sill with him. Even then, he didn't glance over, so she took advantage of the time to let her mind wander to the cityscape outside.

It would have been dark other places. The sky would have been melty royal blue. There would have been shadows among shadows, cast only by what little light provided. But since New York City wasn't just 'anywhere', there were no heavy shadows cast among shadows. Though the stars were never visible, the view had its own matchless quality. It was impossible to explain, but nonetheless beautiful. Peachy-gold light streamed from windows; pinks and blues of neon signs blinked on and off; dull flashes of color and light colored the area below from passing cars.

Suddenly, Clary felt something warm brush her skin and she gave a little start, knocked out of her trance. Jace had his hand on the back of her neck, looking down at her through his buttery-blond eyelashes. She froze, and opened her mouth to tell him off, but his finger to her lips stopped her.

"Sh. You wouldn't want to wake Isabelle, now would you?" His eyes glittered with the ability to throw what she had said right back at her.

Clary scowled at him, but she knew she wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. He was moving closer to her. Uh-oh. Now he was bending down and— Clary's mind shut off the moment their lips met. Thankfully, it wasn't the kind of crushing kiss that made you want to go berserk. It was more like the soft, delicious kind that made you want to go berserk anyways. But it's always nice to know where you were categorized.

But before they could go much farther, Jace slipped through her fingers and melted into the bathroom, where a glass of water was filled. Clary felt curious as to why he was doing that, and watched as he set it on the nightstand. When their eyes met, he winked. Oh well. He moved back closer to her and hunched over, once against pressing his lips to hers.

Jace's fingers looped in the curls of her hair, pulling her gently to him. _We shouldn't be doing this,_ Clary thought past the static feeling. It was extremely dangerous; they were risking all trust lost for _both_ of them, plus risking the ability to stay at the Institute. She's have to go back to Simon's house, and he'd want to know why, and it would be a really big shenanigan over her little mistake. Okay, letting Jace into her room to make out at night wasn't really a _little_ mistake, but…

She mentally shrugged and lifted her arms up to wrap them around his neck. She was practically an adult, and if they were careful, no one else would know about it in the morning. As if it never happened. The thought made her smile against Jace's mouth. He smiled back.

"What?" His words were barely audible, and were also slurred being spoken against skin.

"Nothing." Clary didn't _feel_ like explaining what goes on in her head. Instead of letting him be confused, she just stretched higher and curled her fingers around Jace's shirt collar, aware of only the places where they touched, which was pretty much everywhere: hips, shoulders, knees, and especially the mouth, where sparks were flying.

Jace tasted salty, except sweet as he always did. Clary could _drown_ in the way he felt against her, in his taste and sound and feel. Her heart was beating louder than the car horns blasting outside the window as she pressed the tip of her tongue to his top lip. The moan that bubbled from Jace's mouth was inevitable and seemed five times louder than it probably actually was.

Clary pulled away and clapped her hand automatically over his mouth. She glanced over at the door, as if expecting it to be kicked open any second. And—to their horror—a noise came from next door. The tiny groan of a bedspring, and footsteps across the floor. Clary's heart thumped unevenly with fright and she whipped her head back to Jace for answers. He reached over and pressed the glass of water in her hands, and then—

—disappeared. Out the window he dropped, and Clary stared open-mouthed after him. No matter how much he did that, she'd never get used to it.

There was only time to turn back away from the window before the door slammed open. Isabelle stood there in a pink nighty, her hair done up in braids. Even though it looked as if she had just rolled out of bed, she looked more awake than ever. Izzy opened her mouth to scold, fire in her eyes, but upon seeing the vacant room, she paused.

Clary now realizing what the glass of water was for, squeezed her hand around it and took a small sip. "Izzy?"

"Don't 'Izzy' me, Clarissa Fray. I heard…" She shuffled around the room, peering into the bathroom and under the bed.

All Clary did was stand there, watching in amusement, occasionally taking sips of the water.

After a few minutes, Isabelle didn't succeed in her mission, so she just turned to the other girl, hands on hips. "Jace was in here." It wasn't a question.

"Um, _no_ he wasn't." Clary put on her best cynical look. "I got up to get some water." For emphasis, she pointed a small finger at the glass in her other hand.

"Then why is the window open?"

Uh-oh… Frantically searching for an excuse, Clary peered out the window in what she hoped to seem like absentmindedness. If she said 'for fresh air', Izzy would see through her without a doubt. "I'd heard something outside."

"And you opened the window why…?"

Only slightly proud of her false explanation, she turned back around. "To see if it was actually coming from outside."

Isabelle seemed skeptical and upset for not having proof to get her friend in trouble. "_Riiight. _I believe you." Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she began to walk out of the room. But right before she vanished behind the door, she turned her eyes back to the other girl. "Don't think you'll get away with anything, _Clarissa_. I'll know it if you do." And she left.

All this was greatly entertaining, and when the door swung after Izzy, Clary nearly laughed out loud and stuck her head out the window (after setting down the cup, of course). And, as expected, Jace was clinging to the side of the Institute, using gargoyles as footholds. He was grinning down at Clary.

"You heard that, right?" She said, jabbing her thumb behind her.

"I did." He grinned even wider, showing off the tiny chip on his front incisor. "Her threats make me want to test them. See how threatening she is in her pink nightgown and braids." Jace let out a laugh and adjusted his hold.

"Very." They said at the same time, and then burst out in a fit of near-silent laughter.

"No, no, I need sleep." But Clary was tempted; very tempted. "And you do to."

"I never sleep." Jace said matter-of-factly.

"I do." With one last smiling shake of her head, Clary ducked back inside.

The glass on the nightstand was chugged before she crawled back into bed. Though, her mind was still buzzing with the leftover effects of Jace's kisses. He was, in fact, an _excellent_ kisser. But thinking that didn't make her any more tired. She pressed the side of her face on her pillow, trying her best to calm herself. It took a while, but finally, all her muscles loosened up and she was allowed to start to drift off. But, of course_, _she wasn't allowed to sleep.

_"I'm going to watch you sleep, you know that, right?" _The whisper slid through the quiet night air and wormed its way into Clary's ear.

She groaned and pressed the pillow further on her face. "Jaaaaace…" She could practically _hear_ him smiling.

Though he didn't say anything back. Instead, the light touch of his lips on her cheek lulled her into peaceful oblivion, and into her dreams where Jace sat, waiting.

**oOo**

_I annoy myself greatly. And I lie. I'm a liar. I told you people that they would train today, and it happened AGAIN. I get carried away with an idea that popped up so suddenly on me. The night scene was only supposed to last a few paragraphs, and then it just kind of…continued until time to stop. I annoy myself, as I said. So, my DEEPEST apologies to everyone who hates me for lying and being annoying and such… But anyways, review! :D_


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't know how far this story is going to go, so no one get upset if I quite it. ;) but I promise I'll let you know before I quit. _

**oOo**

The sharp buzzing of Clary's cell phone woke her up early the next morning. She peeled her head off the drool-sticky pillow and tried to remember who she was and why the heck she was waking up so early. But instead of those foggy questions, she tried remembering her dream. It nagged her… Was it about Jace? Something along the lines of… Not training, no. Sighing, Clary swung her legs off the side of the bed and sighed.

It was a training day, and no matter how early her trainers would come in to teach her, everyone forced her to eat before. So there wasn't any confusion after she dressed for the day in Capris and a tank-top. She knew to head straight for the kitchen. But what she didn't figure was that Jace and Izzy would already be down there waiting.

"Took you long enough." Scowled Isabelle, munching on toast and jam, not looking fit for training at all. Unless, of course, there was some form of fighting using tight black dresses and stilettos. She really doubted it.

Clary shoved a few pop tarts into the toaster and went to sit by them, next to Izzy and across from Jace. "What time am I scheduled to begin?" Of course, she ignored Isabelle's snarky comments about timing.

"Six-thirty." Jace, who was busy slurping the middle out of his fried egg, looked up, not acting at all like last night had happened.

"But Chartreuse wants Clary to be in the training room by 6:15."

"Ah." Clary suddenly felt rushed. That was in no later than twenty minutes. She jammed the button on the toaster up and stole her pastries back. They were only luke-warm.

"Feeling a bit rushed?" Izzy raised a fine arched eyebrow at her friend. "Maybe if you hadn't been up late you would have been easier to get up in the morning."

"I wouldn't have been up so late if you hadn't slammed _unannounced_ into my room at eleven at night." Clary straightened up defensively, trying not to look at Jace.

Iz slammed her hand down on the table. "You were already awake! And I could have _sworn_ I had heard—"

"Tsk tsk, now ladies." Jace leaned back on the back legs of the chair. "Clary's going to be late for training." He turned his golden gaze on Clary. "You wouldn't want to disappoint Maryse? Or Jocelyn?"

"Don't pull that one on my, Jace Lightwood." Clary pointed her finger at Jace, but all three could hear the joking tone. She stood up. "But you're right. I'm going to be late." Leaving the others to their breakfast, she turned to leave. But strangely enough, only got a few feet out the kitchen door when she felt Jace's breath on her neck.

"You weren't planning on leaving without us, were you, Clarissa?" He said, voice smiling as well as his face.

Clary jumped a little, but recovered quick. Her Shadowhunter instincts were making her less high-strung, thank god. "Actually, I was." She glanced behind her, to where Isabelle was following, too.

Izzy smiled wryly. "Well, too bad. Because this training exercise requires more than two people. So we're coming with."

As they walked, Jace explained. "This time it's kind of like…an ultimate test. Like the tests you do at the end of a mundane school year. They have one every year, but it's really big and important."

"Big and important?" Clary furrowed her eyebrows, immediately worried. Now that it was on her mind, she was sure to fail. "Like…how big an important?"

They just shrugged.

"Let's put it this way," Isabelle walked faster until she was right next to Clary. "There will be three trained Shadowhunters after you, and if we 'kill' you… Well, you're dead."

"I'll have to be fighting all three of you?" Clary squeaked. "Why can't it be, like…two against two? Or us against Chartreuse?"

"Because, Clary," Jace kept his voice patient as we turned down the hallway to get to the training room, "we are fully trained. It is you that we're training."

She let out a grumpy snort and kicked open the training room door. It was a large room, with wide strips of wood near the ceiling to practice balancing and flips off of. The floor was marked with strips of paint that's designed to help you know where to be, the trajectory of your opponent, all sorts of things. There were large cement boxes of different sizes here and there (most of them pushed against the wall), and ropes and such. It was a unique multi-purpose room, with locker rooms on either end, one men one woman.

In the very center of the room, sitting delicately on a cement box, was Clary's trainer, Chartreuse. She was a tiny woman, actually, with short black hair and creamy tan skin. She looked almost cat-like, but nice enough. Though her hazel eyes never left Clary, it was obvious to go change into training clothes first.

Each locker room was only about twenty feet from them in either direction, so the two girls went to one, Jace to the other. Inside, there were four showers, a sink, and a row of lockers. Perfectly ordinary locker room, minus the fact that there were hooks in the walls to hold weapons while they dressed. Clary opened her locker, the second farthest from the right, but raised her eyebrows in surprise. Instead of the usual black sweatpants and tank top, there was a pair of pressed leather trousers and a jacket the same. Shadowhunter fighting gear.

Clary heart sped up nervously. She'd never needed to or was told to wear the actual gear during training sessions. Jace and Izzy weren't kidding. Swallowing nervously, Clary stripped off her shirt and Capris, stuffing them into the locker. Strangely enough, the fighting gear fit perfectly, buckled at the waist with a heavy-duty belt. The jacket zipped snugly up to her collarbone, and she tied her hair back into a ponytail.

On the other side of the room, Isabelle had taken off her tiny black dress and stilettos, putting on clothes identical to Clary's. On their feet were velcro running shoes, and they were done. Izzy didn't cast Clary a second glance as she just waltzed right out of the locker room. Clary ran after her.

Chartreuse was sitting in exactly the same position; her head hadn't even moved an inch. Only her eyes were moving, still following Clary not unkindly.

Jace had gotten done around the time Clary and Isabelle had, because he, too, was walking out of the locker room towards the trainer. All three made it to her cement block approximately the same time. When Isabelle was distracted by something to their left, Jace took the split-second moment to flash a grin at Clary. Her face turned red. Luckily, it was at that time Chartreuse decided to speak up.

"Thank you, Jace. Isabelle. Clary." She had a deeper and huskier than any of them had thought, but it was kind of lovely. Clary knew that she wouldn't try to kill her _that_ quickly. "I see you're geared up, that's good." She hopped off her block (she seemed only about two inches taller than Clary) and looked them all up and down. "Excellent. Now, about this training session."

All three pairs of eyes briefly flickered to Clary, who felt nervous, but they turned back to Chartreuse.

"Each of you are allowed only one sword and one knife. Including me. No blood is to be spilt on purpose; all targets should be where the leather covers skin. You're allowed to make your point by threatening uncovered skin, though." She put her hands on her hips, and then looked directly at Clary. "Miss Fairchild—Clary—your goal is to take us down before we take you down. Simple enough."

Easier said than done, Clary thought, looking over at each of the highly trained Shadowhunters in turn. Isabelle looked excited, Jace looked mischievous, and Chartreuse looked apologetic that the other two looked that way.

"We'll go easy on you, Clary." Isabelle narrowed her eyes, grinning, which said that they won't. "Technically, it's not really fair three against one, but you had better think fast because this wouldn't' be training if you didn't learn anything."

"Thank you, Isabelle. Well said." Chartreuse smiled, and then waved them off to the small weapons room connected directly to the large room they were already in.

The three went off wordlessly, Clary in mortification, Jace and Isabelle in devilish planning. Clary was afraid.

In the weapons room, there were six weapons already laying on the table for them to grab. Clary slid a silver blade into the sheath on her belt, and hid the dagger in the waistband of her trousers. Jace and Isabelle wasted no time putting theirs away, too, but when exiting, Jace lingered a little behind after Iz had already left.

"Don't worry." He grinned at Clary. "I won't try to kill you that much."

"Thanks, that makes me feel _so_ much better." Clary said sarcastically, and shifted uneasily on her feet. "But you probably shouldn't go easy on me, since this is training and all."

"You said it, not me." He winked, then practically disappeared out the door, leaving Clary making weird guttural noises behind him.

They gathered around Chartreuse once again, armed and ready. She stood with her back arched slightly, looking like some creature of the night in her jet-black Shadowhunter gear and dark hair & skin. She grinned at me, showing off slightly pointed teeth. "No need to be worried, Clary. You're not allowed to get hurt."

"Only my pride…" Clary mumbled under her breath.

"Okay, now," Her trainer paced back to her block and leaned against it. "You can stand wherever you'd like to begin with, but when I blow my whistle, the game is on. And Clary," She turned to her. "It'll be easier if you pretend we're just demons. That's what this exercise is for anyways. Now go find standing points."

Clary nodded, and then turned around to find somewhere to be. Far away, leaning up against a wall, were two cement blocks. One was about two feet high, the other maybe six. Clary jogged over to it and scrambled up onto the higher one, perching herself on the edge, hand on the hilt of her sword. Jace just walked a few paces and leaned on a far wall, picked at his nails with the silver dagger. Isabelle decided to crouch upon a block close to Clary's, close to the nearest corner. She had out her knife, looking completely sure of herself and menacing. Though the whip was choice weapon, anything will do. And Clary knew that.

A whistle appeared in Chartreuse's mouth (she chose to stay next to her own block) and she blew three short whistles. The next moves for Clary were instinctual. Her eyes flickered at all three of the Shadowhunters, which began advancing towards her. Isabelle snaked forwards faster than humanly possible, Jace meandered forwards with a distracting (yet frightening) grin on, and Chartreuse zipped over close to the wall and began almost _scaling_ it, getting as high as possible.

Clary's first goal was as she was taught; figure out what strategies each person (or demon) was using. Isabelle was barreling towards her with no holding back, so she might have to be the first to evade. Chartreuse was whipping around the walls itself to leap onto Clary from the side or behind. Jace seemed to be hanging back, waiting to catch her off guard. She would not have it.

With an automatic growl, she used the youngest girl, Isabelle, to launch herself from the concrete block. Isabelle made a noise of surprise as Clary planted her foot on her back and did a somersault over her head. Izzy spun around and charged, but was backed up (or knocked over) by the head trainer, who leapt off Clary's block and sailed through the air towards Clary. Clary dove for the ground and let the trainer roll over her, skidding to a stop behind her. All the meanwhile Clary kept her eyes on Jace, who was starting to walk quicker.

Isabelle jumped forwards and tried to catch Clary's feet and trip her, but Clary spun sideways and knocked the tip of her sword against Izzy's arm. Chartreuse let out a challenging growl and once again streaked towards her from behind, as Izzy came from the front. Momentarily struck, Clary ducked and slid on the floor just as Isabelle and Chartreuse collided into each other, being thrown backwards. They made a quick recovery, once again leaping to their feet. But unfortunately, that was when Jace decided to sprint forwards and make his move. Clary skidded sideways out of his way, but not a half-second after she did that, Isabelle slashed forwards with her sword, dagger back in place.

Clary jumped out of the way and struck out with her own blade, nicking Jace's side. He snarled and came forwards again, but it was easily evaded by Clary ducking under and knocking his legs out. Jace stumbled, but didn't fall. He wiped a tiny trickle of sweat from his forehead.

It was that time Chartreuse decided to reappear. She leapt from the wall onto Clary's back, but when Clary tucked her head into her chest while tumbling forwards, Chartreuse was knocked off her back and went sailing. Jace side-stepped, avoiding being knocked over by the trainer. His eyes glinted at Clary, and surged forwards again, striking Clary low, like a snake, she flinched backwards, but felt something sharp just barely graze her armpit. Letting out a noise of annoyance, Clary then flat-out sprinted towards the middle of the room, aware of the fact she was being chased. Pushing as hard as she could away from the floor, she leapt onto the concrete block there, catching the edge with her free hand.

Isabelle had tried leaping up, too, but Clary's speed had gained her enough time and momentum to twirl down and around from the block. She gripped the corner and then spun her leg out, kicking hard. Isabelle's legs flew out from under her and she got knocked straight on her back, air knocked out of her lungs. She tried to stand back up, but her shaking arms stopped that. Okay, so Clary had gotten Isabelle. Now to take care of—

"Ahh!" Clary let out a startled cry as her own trick was played on her; her legs flew out from under her and she toppled over, but the grip she had on the cement block helped her back up in a matter of milliseconds. She let out a strangled hiss at Jace, and then scrambled back up onto the block. Regrettably, it was already occupied. At least she caught Chartreuse off guard.

For a second she stumbled, but then righted herself and came at her with her sword. Clary blocked it with her own, then parried. A high ringing filled the air as metal clashed together. Squinting at her trainer, Clary then swung again. The blade of her rapier hit Chartreuse's at the hilt, sending it flying. There was no wasted time, and sooner than Clary could think, Chartreuse had her dagger out. Again, metal filled the area as her and Clary battled, blades hitting together madly on that small five-by-five area. Clary's arms were getting horribly tired, but she didn't give up. Again she thrust and dodged and blocked and parried, feeling the sweat accumulate on the back of her neck.

There was a moment when she started getting lightheaded, but just swallowed and raised her sword to sweep Chartreuses out of the way to hit her. It worked, surprisingly. Chartreuse stumbled for a second on the edge of the cement block, and Clary used that to take the hilt of her sword and pound it against her trainer's chest. With a startled cry, Chartreuse tumbled over the edge onto the cushy floor of the training room. Panting, Clary looked around for her last opponent, Jace. She found him.

Jace was balanced on the edge of a cement block way on the other side of the room. His eyes were narrowed in observation, sword held lightly in his left hand. Wiping a drip of sweat from her brow, Clary jumped down from her current cement block and grudgingly made her way over to Jace. She was exhausted and wished this would just be over, but it wasn't. In fact, it was far from. Jace was probably going to be the hardest out of them all.

Clary dragged herself closer to the block, but stopped about twenty feet from it. They both stood, staring at each other. Fighting a smile, Clary lifted her chin high at him. "Feel free to surrender if you want."

Jace let out a loud laugh, letting it echo throughout the large room. "Fat chance." He cocked his head at her and jumped down from the block. "They were just going easy on you, you know."

"I know that." Clary stretched out her aching biceps. "If they wanted to win they would have. Same as you."

"Of course." He grinned.

Clary, feeling brave, meandered closer to Jace, sheathing her sword and pulling out her small knife instead. She actually came to about five feet to him. "You're a good actor, Jace."

He split his eyes in thought, and then closed the last few feet in a non-menacing way. Jace winked, flickering off his usual arrogant smile. "I try."

Maybe… An idea passed in Clary's head. She doubted Jace would be that dumb as to fall for it, but maybe it was worth a try. At least she'd die fighting. Scooting inch-by-inch closer to him, Clary let her cheeks get a tiny bit redder. "You know, when mom and Luke get back I won't see you all that much anymore."

"It's a shame." His eyes sparkled. "I've enjoyed this."

Clary knew what he meant. Swallowing down all winning thoughts and replacing them with what was supposed to be there, she took another step forwards, tilting her head up.

Jace seemed to be sort of draw closer to her like a magnet. "We're supposed to be trying to kill each other, you know that?"

"I know…" Clary stretched up on her tiptoes and closed her eyes. "Too bad…" Their lips were just touching when she decided to strike. Kicking out with her right leg, she felt his do the same. A sharp pain shot up her shin and she stumbled backwards. But out of her eyes that had flown open, she saw Jace do the same, looking surprised. They landed, sprawled on their backs, winded.

"Damn…" Clary rubbed her eyes, but she couldn't help but grin. "I almost had you there."

But Jace could say nothing, because the whistle blasted at that time. Groaning, Jace and Clary got up, seeing Isabelle do that same. Chartreuse was already back on her cement block, looking please. Once they all had gathered around her once again, her face split into a smile, aimed at Clary.

"That, I have to say Clarissa, was incredible. Your progression is unbelievable." She looked genuinely happy, if not incredibly sore. "I don't think I'm needed here anymore if you're going to take me down second like this time. And, Clary?"

Clary's head, which had started to droop with exhaustion, snapped back up. "Yes?"

Chartreuse winked. "That was an excellent tactic. Works on the majority of idiotic boy opponents."

Jace huffed.

**oOo**

_Sorry, that wasn't quite as awesome as I thought it'd be… Plus, I kind of forgot everything I was going to do with this story, so remembering it existed at all was pretty good. Hn. XDD _


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks everyone for the reviews, they were quite entertaining! I've stopped keeping track of anything in that department, so I hope you guys don't mind me being a complete scatterbrain as I am. Including rambling, so I'll shut up and let you read! Enjoy._

**oOo**

Isabelle refused to talk to Clary in the locker room. She thought it was most likely because Izzy was just unused to being beaten, which was indeed the problem. They both showered wordlessly, and even after they were changed, she just left. Clary felt herself smiling. It was definitely something to brag about, whupping Isabelle Lightwood's butt during a training session.

After pulling on her clothes, Clary strode back into the training room, in no hurry. Her sword and dagger were still sitting on the cement block in the center of the room, so she scooped them up, walking back to the small weapons room. To her surprise, the second her hand touched the doorknob, it turned and opened. Jace ambled out, eyeing Clary with a sort of satisfied look.

"I knew what you were going to do." He assured her with a wink. "It was obvious."

"Oh sure." Clary rolled her eyes, putting a foot out to stop the door from swinging back close. "It worked, nonetheless. I won."

"It wasn't a competition. It was a training session."

"Whatever." Clary rolled her eyes a second time and scooted past him into the weapon room.

It was exactly how it was the first time, to no one's surprise. Clary, unsure of exactly where to put the weapons, put the sword and knife back onto the table and turned to leave.

But Jace was blocking her way.

"You're going to need that." He pointed to the sword behind her with one hand. The other held his own.

Clary was never going to fully get used to Jace appearing places without her hearing or seeing him. Sure, it scared the living crap out of her most of the times, but she stopped screaming at least.

She sighed. "I'm tired. And sore. No more training today."

Jace just shook his head. "You need to learn to fight when vulnerable."

"Are you kidding me?" The words were almost whined. Clary tried to walk forwards past him, but he blocked the way again. "Jesus, Jace, move already!"

He shook his head again, this time saying nothing.

Groaning to herself, Clary turned around and took her sword in her right hand halfheartedly, as if she wasn't really going to use it. She turned back around to Jace, and motioned with the weapon for him to move. With a twinkle in his eye, he complied. Clary shoved past him and dragged her sore body back across the training room. He was following her. She could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck.

Stifling a cry, she swiveled around on her heel and swung the sword in a wide arc. Clary thought she'd caught him off guard. He laughed and kicked her onto the ground. Clary made an irritated hissing noise and propped herself up on her elbow. "Asshole."

A wide, shiny grin stretched across Jace's face. "Get back up."

She did as she was told, making her aching muscles whine. The cement block was just ten feet off to her left, Jace was five in front. He let the weapon hang loosely in his hand, cocking his head at Clary as if she were some fascinating artifact. Hardly. Though Clary was uncomfortable and in mild pain, she made another attempted swing.

The metal of their blades rang together, another hit, Jace was backing her against the block. He showed no signs of tiredness, though Clary was losing grip fast. She grunted as the sword clashed together again, but the second blow was the last. Her arm muscles gave way completely, quivering, sending the weapon skittering across the padded floor. Jace swept a professional foot out and tripped Clary, but caught her before her head could hit the cement. His arm was across her throat, sword poised flawlessly.

"I give up. You win." Clary's chest was heaving in and out, burning with every breath. "You win."

"Aw." Jace lowered the arm holding the sword and put it down on the floor, propping his body up now-noticeably over hers. "That's no fun, you surrendering."

"Fun." One breathless laugh burst from Clary's mouth. "I'm half-dead and you're worried about fun."

He grinned, still not moving off her. "Of course. Fun. Of course, your way of training is more fun than physically mutating a young girl."

"My way?" Clary shook her head skeptically. "Letting my sword fly across the room and surrendering?"

"The other way." His face was still completely poker, handsome and light as he tucked a bit of overgrown blond hair behind his ear.

"Psshh," Clary made a guttural sound of amusement, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "Oh, that way."

After that was said, there was no avoiding Jace sliding his hand behind her neck and kissing her. She made a noise of surprise, but there was no rejected a kiss from Jace. Ever. Ever. Instead, she let herself be pulled in by the feeling of him all around. It made her almost want to laugh. He had this way of…well, Clary didn't really know. She couldn't pin it to one thing, but she knew that whatever it was, it made her never want to let go of him.

Jace's hand slid from her throat to her hips, pulling them against his. She reached up and wrapped both hands around his neck, feeling the thin tendons with her fingertips. His skin was unbelievably smooth…

The cement block behind her was surprisingly closer than she'd thought, judging by how fast her back was pressed against it. It was actually Jace pressing her, but she didn't really think about it or even the bruises that were forming on her shoulder blades where she was being held against. All that her mind processed was the fact that Jace was everywhere; sliding on her skin, her clothes, tangled in her hair, against her lips. It made her arms tremble, but not because the muscles were weak.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU TWO ARE DOING?" The voice rang out loud, echoing through the training room, knocking Clary and Jace apart.

They lay gasping for a second, until their vision cleared. Isabelle was standing over them, hands balls on her thin hips, a very serious scowl on a perfectly-done face. But Jace, being Jace, didn't move an inch. He looked up at her for a second, then made a 'duh' face.

"Training." He pointed to the weapon that was knocked a few feet away. He reached over Clary and picked it up. He pointed it at her. "I've got this down, Iz. Don't get your panties in a twist."

"Of course not." Isabelle scoffed, looking either hugely offended or skeptical. Or both. She glanced at Clary with a funny face, then back at Jace. "You…You're…..pffff…" She made a noise of annoyance, but then her face suddenly morphed sternly. "You're not supposed to be doing that. This is a training room, you've just-just wasted valuable training time."

Jace rolled his eyes, much more menacingly than Clary's eye-rolling. "Don't be like one of those girls, Iz. We were taking a break, that's all."

Clary felt her lungs collapse because Jace still hadn't gotten off of her. She let out a feeble squeak that remained unheard.

"Shadowhunters don't take breaks, not on duty." Izzy's face was 100% frustrated and annoyed, and she flapped her arms in aggravation. "We don't…we don't…. Here, we're still Shadowhunters. We still hunt demons. We still consider it inappropriate to get caught making out while you're supposed to be training."

Jace grinned. "Key words: 'get caught'"

Isabelle let out an irritated cry and threw her arms up into the air. "Breaks are for vacations, Jace Lightwood. You're not on one."

He made a face as if considering. "That could be changed." Jace looked down at Clary. "You want to go on a vacation?" But Clary had no time to answer.

"JACE."

"Jesus, Iz." He finally got off of Clary, shaking his head in amusement. "I was only joking."

Isabelle looked defiant. "Good. Now get going, or I'm going to tell Mom, and then Jocelyn's never going to let Clary stay here ever again because no mother wants her eighteen-year-old daughter pregnant because of some stupid boy's actions."

Clary was appalled, but Jace just laughed. "I wouldn't get Clary pregnant. No glove no love, isn't that right, Clarissa?" He was grinning ear-to-ear as he gave Clary a wink.

Clary's face flushed a brilliant shade of scarlet and she automatically leaned away from him out of sheer mortification.

Thankfully, Isabelle didn't encourage Jace anymore and tapped her foot in annoyance. "Anyway, Mom wants you two in the library."

Momentarily, the embarrassment on Clary's face switched to confusion. "How come?"

"Latin."

"I finished Latin when I was twelve." Jace complained matter-of-factly, standing up. He helped his girlfriend up as well, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. "We should go hunting instead."

Izzy put her hands on her hips. "No. Latin. Clary needs to finish the second course before Saturday. You can do whatever, but it will most definitely not include any making out."

"Awww…" On the way out, Jace threw Clary a wink and a ridiculously seductive grin.

Latin was a painfully dry language to study. Even though it wasn't necessarily difficult, all of the words were uninteresting and dull to choke down. Clary had been stuck on the same three-page section for a half-hour, finding herself rereading those same words over and over, yet none of them stuck.

"Quomodo Latina vadis?" Jace materialized behind her, leaning over the back of her armchair.

"Um…" Clary sputtered, scratching her head, attempting to rack her brains for a reply. "Dirae."

A laugh. "Very good," Jace said. "But I didn't come down here to give you extra Latin practice. Lunch is going to be ready in an hour."

Attention was once again brought down to the book, and Clary was absentmindedly chewing on her thumbnail. "Mkay…"

A pause.

"Meaning… You can stop now. Study time is over."

The book was plucked from her hand and set onto the table next to them.

Clary made a face. "I was just getting to the good part."

"Really?"

"No."

Happy to leave the mind-numbing Latin behind, they walked out of the library.

Lunch was a creamy pea soup and sandwiches, fixed up by Maryse, thankfully. Isabelle had attempted trying her hand at baking potatoes, but seeing as how no one really knew those brownish lumps were potatoes, they remained untouched.

"Alec's coming back this week," Izzy sucked a stray pea from her finger. "They're in Mexico right now. I have pictures, look." She whipped out her cell phone and everybody passed it around, somewhat eager to see where Magnus and Alec were this time.

Jace took the phone and held it out as if it was covered in slime. "…..I like Maggie's sombrero."

Snorting, Clary took the phone from him and stared. One the screen, a tiny two-by-two-inch picture sat unmoving to be looked at. It was of Alec and Magnus standing on a dirty brick wall in front of an odd-looking town, wearing the most bizarre outfits. Magnus was wearing a brightly-colored poncho (tassels and all), a sombrero the size of a large dog, yellow skinny jeans, and was posing with a set of maracas, looking overly pleased with himself. Alec stood next to him looking highly uncomfortable in his own poncho/sombrero ensemble.

It was impossible not to laugh.

"There are other pictures, too." Iz was grinning. "Alec has been texting me nonstop since they left New York."

Maryse raised her delicate eyebrows as Clary shuffled through the other photos. "It's a good thing he's finally happy."

On of the photos Clary had to stop and look at. It was the only one where Alec was smiling. They seemed to be in Paris. Both of them were sitting side-by-side in front of the Eiffel Tower, and Alec's head was thrown back in a laugh as Magnus tried to jam what looked like a beret onto his head. Even she had to admit they looked cute together.

Clary gave the phone back to its owner. "Is Mexico their last stop?"

Iz pocketed the phone. "No. They're stopping by Pennsylvania to see some famous piece of architecture or something." She shrugged, and then her eyes suddenly flit to her brother & Clary in turn with incredulous amusement. "Speaking of which, when's this little vacation of yours?"

"Vacation?" Maryse narrowed her eyes. "What vacation, Isabelle?"

A sweet, innocent smile raised on Izzy's pretty face. "Oh, nothing. Earlier I was just lecturing Clary and Jace in the training room because they were…goofing around. And then Jace was all, 'let's go on a vacation, Clary'." Her impersonation of Jace's voice was quite funny, but not enough to make Clary smile.

"He was joking." She snapped at the other girl.

"I don't know…" Jace put on a thoughtful face and leaned back in his chair, eyes twinkling mischievously. "A vacation sounds fun."

"Do you know how much Mom and Luke would kill me?" Clary said, warning in her eyes. "They would put me through a paper shredder and make a taco out of it and feed the taco to a rabies-infected pit bull and then when the dog crapped me back out, they'd step on the crap."

With eyebrows arched in hilarity, Jace stared at her. "Not if we get their permission."

Isabelle butted in at that point, snorting cynically. "Sorry, Jace, but there is no chance Clary's mom would let her go on a vacation with you alone." She took a bite of sandwich. "Just saying."

All three of them were aggravated and disputing between themselves and, needing a tiebreaker, turned their eyes involuntarily on to Maryse for some kind of consent. Isabelle and Alec's mother had on an astonishing face—new to them—like she actually might be considering.

Iz looked astounded. "Mom? You aren't actually thinking about letting them? Letting two horny teenagers go to God-knows-where for God-knows-how-long without any supervision?"

The shock on Clary and Jace's faces was almost as much as hers.

Maryse went back to her usual stern, tired look. "Of course not. You'll be going with." Isabelle's expression fell in horror. "That is, if Jocelyn agrees. But I don't see any harm in a break, especially if you get a little practice or hunting done." Her gaze softened a bit as it went over to Clary. "Chartreuse told me how your training went, and I must say, I'm very impressed."

Clary, who was still frozen with surprise, managed to mumble a "thanks"

Isabelle wasn't done, though, and definitely not satisfied with her mother's answer. "B-But, Mom. You aren't actually serious?"

"Quiet, Isabelle." Maryse rubbed her temples, and then looked at Clary again. "It would be prudent to get your mother's permission beforehand so we can get this arranged. Now I have to go send a fire message to Robert."

When she left, it was like the kitchen erupted. Isabelle was flying around the room with her dishes, yelling at Jace.

"See what you have done, Jace Wayland?" she shrieked, pointing her finger accusingly at him.

Jace was laughing. "I just got us a free ticket out of New York away from our parents, Iz. Be happy." He tried to ruffle her hair, but she smacked him away.

"I refuse to be happy!" she yelled. "I'm stuck with babysitting you two, so it'll be MY job to make sure you don't friggin get Clary knocked up! What am I supposed to do with THAT, huh?"

Clary was beginning to get uncomfortable. "Uh, Iz—"

"You don't have to do anything about it, Izzy." Jace shot back with a wicked grin. "I told you, no glove no love. And you wouldn't be babysitting us anyways; I'm older than you."

"Isab—" Clary tried again, but again she was interrupted.

"Oh, yes, I do have to babysit you." The other girl growled, tossing the dirty dishes into the sink violently. "And don't even think I'm letting you two sleep in the same HOUSE. 'No glove, no love' my ass, Jace. There is no way in the world I'd let you two do anything that would even REQUIRE protection. Hell would freeze over bef—"

"ISABELLE," Clary cut off the other girl as loud as she could, standing up. That definitely got her attention. Sighing in exasperation, Clary ran her fingers through her hair and closed her eyes. "Jesus, you act as if I have no virtues at all."

Isabelle's gaze turned on her with one eyebrow raised. "It's not your virtues I'm afraid are nonexistent, Clarissa."

"Oh, so now I'm a rapist?" Jace snorted, though no one ever said anything about rape. "I would never force Clary to do anything she didn't want to do, you know that, Izzy."

"Honestly, can we stop talking about this?" Clary said abruptly, slamming her hand down on the table. "No one's raping anyone and no one's getting pregnant, END OF STORY. Now, if you two don't mind, I have to go plead mercy to my mom. Don't kill each other while I'm gone." And Clary stood up, leaving the kitchen to go to her room.

The phone rang four times before someone picked up.

"Hello?" Her mother's voice was decorated with static through the sour phone signal.

"Hey, Mom."

Clary was laying stomach-down on the bed in "her room", fiddling with the ties of her hoodie.

Jocelyn perked up. "Oh hey, sweetie! How's everything there? Was the training session this morning fun? Did you do well?"

It was easy to laugh at her mother's enthusiasm. "Everything's fine, it went well. I beat everyone, actually."

"I'm impressed!" There was a short pause, in which Clary heard plastic shopping bags being rustled in the other end. "But that isn't what you called for, is it?"

"Not exactly…." Clary frowned nervously, unsure how to explain it in a way that would most likely get her permission. Sure, she'd acted less than enthusiastic back in the kitchen, but when your almost-sister and your boyfriend were yelling back and forth about impregnation and condoms, you couldn't exactly act thrilled. Despite that, though, Clary was completely thrilled at the thought of a vacation.

"Clary, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here, Mom." She took a deep breath. "See, Maryse is kind of..sending Jace and Izzy off on some sort of out-of-state training excursion and she wants me to go with."

There was silence for a long time.

About five minutes after Clary spoke, there was a faint male voice on the other end, which was recognized to be Luke's.

"Who are you talking to, Jocelyn?" Luke asked quietly.

Another pause and Clary's mom replied. "Clary. And she's asking to go with Jace and Isabelle on a 'training excursion' in another state. Without adults." She whispered something inaudible to Luke, and they began whispering back and forth to each other.

Yet ANOTHER pause.

"I'm going to have to talk to Maryse." Jocelyn used her I-think-I-know-what-you're-up-to mother voice.

"Look, Mom, Izzy is going to be there. She wouldn't dare let Jace and I get even ten feet from each other. I'll be fine."

"I still don't know… Hey, I'll have to call you back on a few minutes, okay?"

Clary sighed. "Okay, Mom."

"Be right back," The line went dead.

Putting her phone back on the bedside stand, Clary crossed her arms under her chin to wait.

"No luck, I take it?" A sudden voice made Clary jump and turn to see Jace standing in the doorway, grinning.

Clary shrugged. "She's going to talk to Maryse first. Then call back."

Jace mulled this over for about three seconds before walking over to her bad and stretching himself out on it. Letting out a started cry, Clary toppled off the side.

"Ow…" she grumbled to herself as she sat up. With both elbows on the mattress in front of her, Clary scowled at her tactless boyfriend. "Thanks for making room for me, Jace."

"Any time." Jace winked and promptly began ruffling through her sketchbook.

Clary snatched it away from him.

"Oh, hey, I liked that picture! Give it back!" He took it again and found the one he had been looking at.

Overcome with curiosity, instead of snatching it again, Clary peeked over his shoulder at the chosen drawing.

It was of the both of them, unlike the majority of the other pictures. The drawing awoke a memory. Flying over New York at night on a stolen motorcycle, Clary clutching to Jace as they raced through the sky. It was, in fact, and excellent picture, considering every single other attempt of them together had turned out crap. She had captured the depth of everything using mainly dark shades of graphite, only lighting up their faces so where their expressions were visible. Clary's, of pure terror. Jace's of exhilaration and power.

It had been one of the best pictures she'd ever drawn.

Head cocked with interest, Jace surveyed the picture. "…Can I have this?"

Clary's eyebrows twitched upwards in surprise. He never asked for pictures. In fact, he never seemed exactly interested in her artwork. This was new.

Once she got over her mild shock, she nodded her head. "Sure."

Careful so as not to rip the drawing, Jace pinched the corner of the page and pulled it from its metal hinges He then folded it neatly and slipped it into his pocket.

They made eye contact, and it was easy enough to hold it, because, to be frank, the looks on each other's faces were all too captivating. Slowly, with an expression almost like wonderment, Jace slid his hand behind Clary's neck and pressed his lips to hers.

A memory flashed across his mind, so real and vivid he felt his heart skip.

He was sitting up on the shore of Lake Lyn. Water caressed the sandy shore in gentle laps, filling his throbbing head with a false sense of security. A few feet away lay Clary. His Clary, torn and bloody and completely motionless. For one frightening moment he thought her dead, until he put his hand on her cheek and felt the warmth she always had to offer. And then her eyes opened, her beautiful shamrock-green eyes. He had never felt more relieved and happy in his entire life; he wanted to just lay there for the rest of time with his hand on her cheek, feeling her heartbeat beneath his fingertips. This was the first he would die for—and did die for. The girl who taught him strength and the power of loving someone unconditionally. The girl who was his. All his.

Jace smiled against Clary's mouth. "Amo te."

Clary returned the smile. "I love you, too."

Just then, her cell decided to ring. Reluctantly breaking away from the kiss, Clary reached over and picked it up from the bedside table.

It was her mother.

She flipped open the phone. "Hey."

"Clary," her mom began. "I talked it over with Maryse and Luke thoroughly."

"And…?" Clary's eyes flitted over to Jace, and his face was neutral, if not slightly curious and eager as well.

"And…we're letting you go."

There was the overwhelming urge to cheer. She stifled it only by biting her lip and grinning in excitement at Jace. But before she could thank her mom incessantly, Jocelyn spoke again.

"BUT," Jocelyn said in emphasis, "there are some rules. First of, I am to know exactly where you're going."

"I…actually don't know that either." Clary glanced over at Jace, who—after apparently being able to hear what was being said—was doing an awful impression of a hula girl, and laughed.

"That's alright. Let me know when you know." That was promised. "And second, stay with Isabelle. Don't go wandering off with Jace—or by yourself—because I love you and don't want you to get hurt."

"I promise."

"Third, well…" Pause. "You know what the third is. You and Jace are to behave yourselves. No sharing bedrooms or sneaking off in the night or anything like that. This is an incredibly rare occasion, Clarissa."

Clary knew that this was serious, because her mother used her name. She bit her lip, still listening.

"On normal circumstances I wouldn't have even considered it for a second, but you're almost an adult. I'm trusting you to use your best judgment and take care of yourself."

For some reason it felt like Jocelyn was saying an actual goodbye, as if Clary was moving out of her parent's house or something, even though there was no way she'd leave without getting to say goodbye face-to-face with Jocelyn and Juke. Clary had to swallow a few times before speaking.

"Of course, Mom. I'll be good."

A long falter in the conversation followed, and then a bit of noise like the phone was being passed between people.

"Clary, it's Luke. Can I talk to Jace real quick? He's there, isn't he?"

How he could tell Jace was here, Clary wasn't sure, but she didn't question it and handed the phone to Jace, shrugging. When he started talking to Luke, she went to go to the bathroom, mostly to give them man-to-man privacy or something like that. And when she got back, the cell was closed and Jace was looking at the picture Clary had given him again.

"What'd he want?" Clary sat next to him and folded her legs.

"The usual." Jace grinned. "Death threat if we sleep together, demanding you come home in one piece, 'have a good time, kids'. I told him my intentions are strictly honorable."

"Well, are they?"

"Of course not." He winked, and then stood up. "Come on, let's go tell Izzy and Maryse you can go."

"Maryse already knows," Clary let him take her hand as they walked from the room. "So just tell Isabelle."

"Tell me what?" Iz was leaning against the wall outside her room, which was, in fact, directly next to hers.

"We just called my mom and she's letting me go." Clary beamed. But Isabelle's mood and upset expression confused her. "Aren't you excited, Iz? It's about as close to a vacation as it gets for Shadowhunters."

Izzy sighed, eyebrows knitting forlornly. "I am excited, I am, but…if anything does happen…" She bit here lip, but out of the blue, her mien changed from worried to stern. "You." She pointed to her room. "In there. Go."

As Clary shuffled grudgingly into Izzy's sponged room, Jace laughed.

"And you were lecturing me about raping the redhead."

Letting out a snort of rage, Isabelle stomped past her brother and followed Clary into the room.

It was awkward for the first while. Clary sat on the edge of Izzy's bed, uncomfortable, while Izzy paced the room at a violent speed, running her fingers through her hair and crossing her arms and uncrossing them and rubbing her forehead.

Finally, after ten minutes, she came to a halt in front of the other girl. She looked aggravated and unable to form the words in her mind. "Look, Clary, just-just…" She took a breath. "Don't—"

"Don't get pregnant, I know." Clary rolled her eyes. Honestly, did she really come across to everyone as the kind of girl who'd do that?

Isabelle sat down on the bed beside her. "No, it's not just that." She pursed her lips unsurely. "…I know I'm not at an authority to tell you who you can and can't sleep with."

Oh, God. Were they really talking about that?

"And I know I was a little harsh yelling at you and Jace."

I must be having a dream, Clary thought.

"So I feel I've lectured you enough about getting impregnated, that isn't my job. I am, however, going to be in charge when we're off to wherever we're going, and I except you to just…realize that maybe there are times when that's okay and times when you should let your morality get the best of you."

Not a dream. A nightmare.

Isabelle threw her hands up in the air. "You're looking at me as if I'm crazy, Clarissa. I just…" Her delicate shoulders hunched in defeat. "I don't want to lose two people I love to stupidity, that's all."

Clary was in a mild state of shock, mostly because Izzy wasn't really one to belt her feelings our like that, to admit vulnerability. In fact, she had really impressed Clary, almost to the point of where she'd be forgiven for having this talk with her.

"I'm telling you this because there was no one there to tell me it." Isabelle said, looking sour. "I've made my own stupid mistakes, Clarissa, and it would hurt me to see you repeat them." There was a small touch of finality in her voice that made the both of them stand up, but before Clary could move towards the door, Iz had her hand on her wrist. "Just realize I'm not stopping you from doing anything, but your mother trusts me with you, and I don't take easily to failure." And with that last word, she opened the door and left.

"I say Italy." Clary said matter-of-factly, picking a bit of roast lamb from her teeth. "The vineyards."

It was dinnertime, and just Jace, Clary and Isabelle were at the table. There had been a lot of discussion and arguing about where they were going to go.

"No, no, Madagascar." Izzy argued, picturing the tropical forests in her head. "We can hang out with the sloths and lemurs."

The two girls glared at each other for a few more minutes, until Clarissa turned her annoyed gaze over at her boyfriend.

"Where do you think, Jace?"

He rubbed his defined jaw line. "The beach. Somewhat secluded, maybe closer, and warm."

No one in their right mind would turn down the vineyards of Italy. But then again, Clary thought, Jace had never been in his right mind.

"Florida?"

"Too many oranges."

Suddenly, Clary remembered when she was talking to her mother, the joking little hula dance Jace had so willingly demonstrated for her. She laughed out loud. "You're talking about Hawaii."

Jace winked a golden eye at her.

"Actually," Iz's fine winged eyebrows arched in recollection and she scooped a bit of gravy off her plate with a finger. "I remember the person who runs the Hawaiian Institute. Bartolomew Merry-Death or something. He's young. Lives there with his sister or something, I think."

"Ah, that'd be no fun staying at an institute." Jace leaned back on his chair legs and put his bare feet up on the table. "We should rent a beach house."

Izzy's smile widened dreamily. "Mmhm. Beachfront pr—"

A sharp buzzing interrupted her. Frowning, Isabelle pulled out her cell phone—straight from her bra—flipped it open, and laughed. "It's Alec, texting a picture from their hotel."

Clary took the cell from the other girls' hands and stared at the picture before bursting out in laughter, too. It was of Magnus, sitting on a normal-looking chair, legs crossed like a woman, hair done up in a towel wrap, wearing a robe, freshly drying nails painted black clutching a tabloids magazine.

Jace took one look at the picture and shook his head disapprovingly. "Doesn't he have just one smidge of pride left?"

Clary giggled. "He did, before he traded it in for a National Inquirer."

The phone was put away.

"Anyways," Iz continued. "Hawaii. Beachfront property. A week?"

"Two."

"Two weeks. When are we leaving?"

They quieted a minute to ponder that. Clary knew that she should probably finish up the Latin by Saturday, and had one-on-one training session the day after. They should probably wait until her mom and Luke came back, too, and of course Simon would want to see her off as well.

Simon.

Clary couldn't help but frown. Simon didn't know about the trip. She should probably tell him, but there was no telling if he'd be okay with it. His reaction would most likely be the same as everyone elses. "Don't get knocked up." Clary was greatly offended that everyone thought that highly of her, getting pregnant at 18. Yet…every time she was about to say something completely against that, something in her head popped up, forcing her to think. Sure, she wouldn't get pregnant, but…

Would you sleep with Jace if you had the chance?

Clary didn't know. She just didn't know.

"Clary, Clary!" Isabelle snapped her fingers in front of the other girl's face, bringing her back blinking and confused. Iz raised an eyebrow. "You look like you're about to be sick."

Tightening her lips, Clary's gaze turned uneasily to Jace. He was still leaning back in his chair, curiously narrowed eyes upon her as well.

"I'm fine." She said quietly. "Just thinking about what Simon would think of this."

The conversation as quickly recovered after that.

"Anyhow," Iz continued. "I was saying Sunday."

"I have a training session then."

Frown. "Monday?"

A pause. Clary looked at Isabelle, who looked at Jace, who scratched his nose. No one even said "okay". It was just a silent mutual agreement.

"I should probably tell my mom that."Clary dug her own phone out of her pocket and sent a quick text out to both her mom and Simon. Once that was done, she looked back up at Isabelle, pleased.

"Alec and Magnus are coming back Monday morning." Iz said brightly. "We get to see them before we leave!"

Clary had to admit, she looked forwards to seeing them again, but there was no time to say anything, because Simon texted back.

Simon: You're doing WHAT on Monday?

A mile crept onto Clary's face, but only because she loved her best friend so much, seeing him overprotective was just downright amusing.

She texted a reply, just in time for her mother to affirm the date and location.

Jace was looking over her shoulder. "Is that from Simon?"

"No, my mom." Clary was just about to put her phone back away when Simon messaged back.

Simon: …And your mom is ok with that?

She replied:

Clary: Yes, and I can see you aren't.

Simon: Of course I'm not! Dunno about you but I wouldn't want my best friend getting knocked up at age 18.

Clary made a noise of exasperation.

Jace just laughed and ruffled her hair. "Not many people have faith in you, Clary."

She smacked his hand away. "It's you they're worried about, asshole." Sniffing, she sent a text back.

Clary: I think I'm able to take care of myself, Simon.

Isabelle was eyeing the other two curiously as they snorted when another reply came.

Simon: I trust you, Clary, you know that. But from my pov, spending two weeks in Hawaii with your boyfriend unsupervised is just asking for something to go wrong. I want you to stay safe.

Jace coughed, but it sounded a lot like the word "overprotective". Clary just glared at him.

Clary: I will. Are you coming to say goodbye on Monday?

Simon: Wouldn't miss it for the world.

When the phone was put away, Jace scoffed loudly.

"What?" Isabelle looked inquisitively at him. "Is everything okay?"

Clary chose to ignore Jace. "Nothing. Simon's just worried about me, that's all."

The look that passed over the other girls' face wasn't completely identifiable, but understood.

When the Mortal War ended, Simon was caught between the beautiful and deadly Isabelle, a Shadowhunter, and the loveable and sarcastic Maia, a werewolf. Obviously, both girls had feelings for him; that much was evident on Izzy's face. But Clary knew and Izzy knew that Simon had chosen Maia, leaving the other possible girlfriend confused and hurt.

Now, it was just obvious that Isabelle wished that Simon cared about her as much as Clary. It was sad, really, but Iz didn't show her emotions for long.

She shrugged. "You can take care of yourself."

"Whatever happened to 'I'm-not-letting-you-two-sleep-in-the-same-house'?" Jace rolled his tawny eyes at her. "Women."

There was a brief, uncomfortable glance between the two girls, and they both understood what it meant. Clary silently thanked her.

Isabelle cleared her throat and stood up. "At any rate, we came to the best conclusion we could, so I'll go tell Mom." And with no further adieu, she shoved her dishes in the sink and left.

**oOo**

_Sorry that took so long to get out! Hope it wasn't too awful or OOC, but I enjoyed it immensely… Heheh… lots of fluff in the upcoming chapters! :D:D review and it'll come faster._


	5. Chapter 5

_You guys are so awesome! :D such amazing reviews, thank you. This chapter goes to all of you who reviewed, mkay? Love you guys, and enjoy this chapter!_

_I thought I might mention to anyone who bothers reading… Well, this story is just to amuse myself, so it most likely won't be too professional or perfectly timed. If you've read any of my other, earlier stuff, you're most likely aware of my awesome writing skills (meaning nonexistent). So don't' complain about it being way too dragged out and rambling and boring, mkay? Unlike most of my other stories, this is just to amuse me. Apologies to anyone who hates that. _

**oOo**

Monday came slower—and faster—than Clary had ever imagined. The few days before, her mom and Simon called incessantly to lecture, blab and triple-check all of the details for the trip. When Monday morning came, she found herself in her room, sitting on her bed, talking to Simon with the clock hands pointing lopsidedly at ten.

"I _told_ you, invincibility and immortality are two different things!" Clary said patiently, holding the phone with her shoulder while doing last-minute inventory of her suitcase with her hands. Though the hair band in her half-ponytail got in the way, it still held.

"Erik said that if you cast a Complete Immortality Spell on you, you can't die," Simon argued.

"Well, Erik's wrong. You're immortal, Simon. That doesn't mean you can't die. It just means you can't die of old age." Thankfully, her friend didn't mention that—technically—that would mean he would never die (considering the run he had permanently plastered on his forehead).

"Then the Complete Immortality Spell should be the same as the Total Invincibility Spell, but they're two different things!" There was a rustle from the other end, and a sigh.

"Invincibility means you can't be destroyed. Immortality means you can't die of old age. Difference, see?" Clary paused briefly at a knock on the door. She moved the phone to her other shoulder. "Hold on one second,"

Scrambling off her bed, Clary went over to and opened the bedroom door.

Isabelle was standing there, wrapped in a silver sequined dress, black hair braided down her right shoulder. "Clary!" She was practically leaping from foot to foot. "Jace said Alec and Magnus are here!"

Clary nodded to her and addressed Simon quickly. "I have to go."

"I know," he said with a slight down tone to his voice, but then perked up. "I'll be there at noon to say goodbye, okay?"

"Okay, Simon." After hesitating for a split-second, Clary added: "I love you."

She heard him smile. "Love you too, Clary." The line went dead.

Isabelle still hadn't lost her excitement, but when she stopped and looked at Clary's clothes, she frowned. "What's _that_?"

The other girl glanced down. "It's what I'm wearing today."

"Oh, no it isn't. There is no way I'm letting any sister of mine go to Hawaii in a hoodie and torn jeans." Izzy looked frazzled and highly disapproving for a moment, but shook it off and grabbed Clary's wrist. "We're going shopping when we get there, but never mind that. Let's go say hi to Alec and Magnus!"

And with no further ado, they were suddenly barreling down the hall, eager and excited to see the most-definitely-mentally-deranged warlock and his boyfriend come home from their worldwide vacation. About halfway to the library, Church the cat caught up with them and demanded a tummy rub before escorting Clary and Isabelle the rest of the way.

Once they got to the library, it was obvious a Magnus-hand touched it. Everywhere he walked, it seemed, he shed a path of glitter, leading right up to where he was lounging across one of the loveseats, watching Alec laugh at something his handsome blond brother said.

"ALEC!" Isabelle shrieked, launching herself at him and catching his neck in a tight hug.

Looking a bit overwhelmed as he tried to cough black vanilla-scented hair out of his mouth, Alec did his best to hug back. "Hey, Iz. Hey, Clary." He reached over and ruffled Clary's curly red hair. Everyone loved _this_ Alec much better than the old one. You could say that Magnus brought out the best of him. It was impossible _not_ to smile as Clary greeted her sort-of-friend/brother.

Magnus slinked up from the couch lithely, narrowing his strange cat eyes at Clary and Isabelle with dim amusement. "Well, forget me, by all means. I'm only the one who created twenty-four portals in the past two months."

Isabelle let her brother go and put a hand on her hip. "You never like my hugs."

After a long moment of looking her up and down, the warlock grinned, showing off little pointed teeth. "Too true. A simple 'hello' would suffice." When both the girls said hello, he sat back down on the couch, looking much more content.

Letting out an exhausted breath, Alec flumped down next to the warlock, releasing a large puff of glitter. Clary saw that he was wearing a T-shirt that looked from a gift shop; it was black, obviously made out of cheap cotton, sporting a large, colorful picture of some weird-looking house, with captions underneath explaining. If Clary could have raised an eyebrow, she would have. Magnus was wearing nothing like his boyfriend was. He looked like he came from one of those ancient Victorian films, complete with the turned-up color and shiny pointed shoes. His dark hair was gelled back, and he was covered head-to-toe in sparkles.

"So, I hear you three are off to Hawaii this afternoon," Magnus said, arching a thin eyebrow high, looking from Clary to Isabelle to Jace. "I'm guessing you're not taking me."

"No more travel…" Alec groaned, wiping a hand down his face. "All this portaling has been giving me a headache."

The warlock put his hands behind his head. "Don't kid yourself, Alec, darling. You had fun."

A fleeting grin appeared across Alec's face when he looked at his partner. "I know."

"Have any of you actually _been_ to Hawaii?"

Clary was suddenly worried. She had never been to the tropical island… She knew she could create the portal, but simply thinking about a destination didn't do them any good.

Thankfully, Isabelle laughed lightly. "_Duh. _We wouldn't be going there if we couldn't, Magnus. I went there as a kid with Mom."

_Phew_…

Magnus looked unimpressed, but said nothing else.

There was a small pause, in which Jace came over to Clary and tugged on a lock of her hair. "Where's your suitcase?"

"Still in my room."

He promptly disappeared, with only a wink.

The library was echo-y and quiet at that time. Booked by the thousand sat waiting on their slightly dusty shelves, leather spines worn and cracked from neglect—or love. The opulent desk that sat in the center of the room was occupied by Maryse Lightwood, as its previous owner was a traitor and ended up getting killed by Clary's brother. Maryse was shuffling through important papers, her black hair in a tight, shiny black bun.

A few minutes later, Jace came back and handed Clary her suitcase. "Half of it was strewn across your bed in an awful mess, Clary," he said in mock disapproval. "I don't like having to touch your underwear any more than I already do."

"JACE!" If Clary had been drinking something, it would have been spit all over to floor at her feet. Alarm and embarrassment struck her expression, and she stared at him open-mouthedly. Isabelle had the oddest, most quizzical face on, whereas Alec and Magnus were trying not to laugh.

"Jesus, I was only joking." Jace shook his head. "My point was supposed to be about your atrocious organization skills."

"Yeah, well…" Clary tried to calm her beet-red face, sitting stiffly down on a couch adjacent to Alec and Magnus'. "I didn't know what to pack."

"Anything you didn't pack we can just buy when we get there," Isabelle coughed, trying to dismiss what had been said before that, but no one said anything after that.

After a while, her eyes swam lazily up to the large, dark clock hanging at an angle on the ceiling. 10:58. Any minute now her mom and Luke would be there. At noon, Simon was coming, and he was most likely bringing Maia with, for them to see Clary, Isabelle and Jace off. It wasn't really a big deal, according to everyone (asides from those who haven't been Shadowhunters their entire lives). Shadowhunters went off on trips around the world, sometimes to hunt, sometimes to visit other institutes, sometimes to see important people or Downworlders. Maryse said that as long as they got some training or hunting done, there was no reason at all to consider that particular trip wrong at all. They were practically adults. Jocelyn had attempted to argue the case, but consented in defeat in the end, after changing her mind about fifty times.

Magnus had fallen asleep. His head slumped over onto Alec's shoulder, getting spiky pieces of glittered hair all in his boyfriend's face. Alec only looked mildly uncomfortable, but Clary guessed that it was only of the odd noises the warlock was making in his sleep.

"What time did you s—" Jace begun asking Clary, but stopped suddenly, pricking his ears up like a cat. "Do you hear that?"

Magnus woke form his slumber then, snapping his head upwards. "Elevator!" His yellow eyes widened in sleepy surprise.

Try as she might, Clary couldn't hear anything other than the quiet ticking of the clock and Jace's staggeringly loud heartbeat—as he was leaning over the back of the couch behind her, so where his chest was almost touching her hair.

Alec squinted his eyes, as if that would improve his hearing. "I don't…" he trailed off.

"It stopped. They must be coming up." Jace smirked and then perched himself upon the arm of the couch, his back arching—in the only way Clary could describe it—beautifully.

Isabelle gathered her silvery skirts with excitement and skipped over to sit on the _other_ arm of the loveseat. Clary felt as though she had two parrots on her shoulders. Two obnoxious, sassy, dramatic, demon-killing parrots that she loved absolutely to death.

"This is exciting, Clary!" Izzy said, face glowing with her usual beauty and animation. "I can't believe you're wearing _jeans_ today—" She stopped abruptly, whipping her head to the side. A smile stretched across her face, as bright as sunshine.

Clary turned curiously to see her object of interest, and saw her moth.

Jocelyn and Luke were standing there in the library entrance, looking positively radiant with happiness as they clutched each other's hands. When Jocelyn saw the group of Shadowhunters (and Magnus) sitting around the couches and caught her daughter's eye, she let go of Luke's hand.

"Mom!" Clary leapt off the couch and ran to them. "Luke!" She threw her arms around Jocelyn and hugged her tightly. When she was done embracing Luke, the others came over as well. The girls hugged, the boys shook hands (all but Magnus, who stood back a little, looking bored).

"I'm so _glad_ we caught you before you let." Jocelyn, despite looking a little frazzled, seemed to set off light in her happiness. Most of it was probably because she just got married, but some because that was the first time in a while her and Clary have seen each other.

"I told you, we're leaving at twelve." Clary felt so happy she could skip. "You wouldn't have missed us if you tried."

"Well, technically, th—"

"Shut up, Jace." Clary scowled at him, and then turned her attention back to her parents. "How was your trip?"

"It was amazing," her mother beamed, looking over at her new husband with a face full of love. She then proceeded to tell everyone about where they went and what they did and who they saw. All of the other Shadowhunters listened politely, relaxed on the cluster of sofas and armchairs. Magnus had fallen asleep (again), his head on Alec's shoulder (again), making those weird noises in his sleep (again. Alec just wished those sparkles weren't so…contagious.

Jace was taking up most of the loveseat he was sharing with Clary, one of his arms tucked around her shoulders. Though he appeared attentive and listening along with everyone else, his tawny eyes were elsewhere, far away from the just the library in the institute. Clary didn't want to both him, even if she was desperate to know what was going on in his mind.

Isabelle couldn't seem to sit still. She fluttered from couch to couch every thirty seconds, beaming and excited and restless. Light twinkled off her dress like a disco ball as she hopped places, asking questions and laughing perfectly on cue. Finally, Jocelyn and Luke apparently wanted her to be still, because the subject was changed.

"Okay, okay." Jocelyn waved her hand at her in a dismissive motion. "It's obvious you're dying to talk about Hawaii. So, what are your plans?"

This seemed to slow Iz down a little, and she settled on the couch next to her brother and Magnus. "Well, as soon as we get there, we're getting Clary new clothes."

"What are wrong with my old ones?" Clary scowled, hugging the tattered sweater to her chest. "They're perfectly acceptable."

Isabelle threw her hands up in the air. "Um, no, they aren't. You don't wear that much clothes in Hawaii. You wear small flowery dresses and shorts and blouses and leis and…"

Now Jocelyn, Luke, Alec, and Jace were watching the two girls argue with expressions of amusement.

Iz had stood up and put her hand son her hips. "I don't think you have _one_ dress in that suitcase of yours."

"She doesn't," Jace pointed out helpfully, and his girlfriend shot him an evil look.

"No, I don't," Clary said slowly, crossing her arms over her chest, "but it doesn't _matter_, Iz."

"_Yes, _it _does._" The other girl scoffed. "It a—"

Magnus chose that moment to wake up, and he wrinkled his nose in laughter at the two teenage girls. "Ooh, chick fight!"

Sighing, Isabelle sat back down and flicked a bit of hair over her shoulder. "We're going shopping when we get there and there's nothing you can do about it, Clary. And that's that."

Ugh. She was so _pushy_, Clary thought, and sank closer to Jace in the nest his arm provided. He just looked down at her with an entertained sparkle of his eye.

Luke coughed a little, trying not to laugh. "And what'll you do, Jace, while they're out killing each other at the mall? Or are you planning on dragging him along, Isabelle?"

"Oh, yes." Izzy grinned wickedly and winked at her brother.

"Oh, _no_." Jace spared no sliver of amusement to her, rubbing his jaw with his free hand. "Probably getting something to eat. Portaling always makes me hungry."

"_Everything_ makes you hungry, Jace," Alec said, rolling his bottle-blue eyes up at the ceiling.

That earned him a wide, pointy grin. "Especially portaling, though."

Magnus, who had been watching all this through slightly narrowed greenish eyes, stretched his arms up and lowered them onto the back of the couch. The illumination from the skylights lit the sides of each molecule of glitter as they floated around the warlock. "I trust that you will be the one creating the portal, Clarissa?"

Clary nodded.

"Good." Magnus breathed a sigh of relief, flopping his head over onto Alec for the third time. "I'm too tired to make another one for a looong time." Two seconds later he started snoring.

Silence followed for a few minutes afterwards. It seemed as though everyone except Isabelle and Jace were exhausted. Clary, who had only got five hours of sleep, rubbed her eyes and tucked her legs up to her chest, attempting to stifle a loud yawn. Jocelyn and Luke were sagging slightly on the couch, obviously glad to get a lull in the conversation to cool their minds down. Alec's eyes drooped several times before his head dropped onto his boyfriend's and they snored in unison.

When he saw Clary's frown, Jace shook out his curly gold hair like a dog. "I wouldn't worry about them," he said, squeezing her slightly to his side. "Alec sleeps like Church does."

_And Max_. The words remained unspoken. The cat and the little boy had something in common—they could sleep anywhere at any time. Max falls asleep sitting up on the couch or at the dinner table or propped up on the stairs. That is, before he got killed. Ironically, by Clary's evil sadistic brother (he's killed a lot, hasn't he?). No one mentioned a single word about either boy, but it was obvious in everyone's eyes that they were thinking it.

Clary didn't like feeling sad about him. She shook off the feeling and decided to wait out the next fifteen minutes with her eyes closed. Jace didn't seem to mind her snuggling closer to him on the couch, using his shoulder as a pillow. On the contrary, he gazed down at her and watched the little bit of hair in front of her face twitch as she breathed in and out.

Isabelle watched, too. Secretly, she envied them. There was no way she'd ever let anyone know that, but she envied them for finding someone to be with and love. She had a reputation and life that had been so mangled by her confusing dating life; she was convinced that she wouldn't find anyone she actually _loved_. Here she was, watching Jace and Clary be connected by this invisible, untiring bond, Alec and Magnus sleeping with their heads like interlocking puzzle pieces, Luke and Jocelyn hold hands and share loving glances when they think no one's looking. Even her _mom_ has someone. Everyone has found their future. Everyone except her.

"RATS IN THE BEDSHEETS, STEFANO!" Magnus suddenly yelled, scrambling upright, eyes flying open.

His outburst had startled everyone back into consciousness. Alec's head snapped up and he twitched in confusion at the warlock, who was slapping his shirt as though there were actual rats in it. Clary sighed and promised herself that she'll get some sleep that night, because there obviously wasn't any chance of getting some any time soon. She rubbed her eyes again and looked up at the clock. It was five minutes past noon.

A small curse flew from her mouth and she stood up. "Simon and Maia are probably here now. I have to…" She put her hand on her forehead, stressed out, and began to grab her suitcase.

Jace was there, standing up so fast she didn't even see him move. "It's okay, I'll get that."

Alec and Isabelle had started up a light conversation about the vacation, and Magnus was straying behind as everyone else walked up ahead. Jocelyn and Luke seemed to be discussing Clary's morality (again) with frowns on, hoping no one else would hear their whispers. Though Clary didn't, Jace did. He grinned to himself.

The elevator seemed to go extra slow for them. It creaked and groaned, carrying eight impatient people down to the ground floor. As soon as it whined to a stop and the gate shifted open, Clary, Jace, Alec, Magnus, Jocelyn, Isabelle, Maryse, and Luke poured out. Isabelle was dragging behind what seemed like fifteen pieces of luggage, of which fourteen were probably full of makeup and clothes and hair straighteners, whereas Jace and Clary only had one bag each (Jace's was most likely full of weapons). They rushed each other out, and when Clary was in sight of the Institute's front gate, she dropped her bag and ran forwards.

Simon was standing there inside the fence, lounging on one of the concrete benches. He was wearing an out-of-dated band T-shirt and scuffed-up jeans, dark hair in desperate need of a trimming. Clary wasn't embarrassed to think of how attractive he looked, but her thoughts didn't drift any further. Maia was sitting next to Simon on the bench, her head thrown back in a laugh that shook the beads braided into her shiny brown hair. When everyone stumbled out onto the lawn with their belongings, both Simon and Maia's heads snapped over to them.

Simon stood up just in time to catch his best friend in a violent hug. "Clary!"

"Hey, Simon." She beamed, pulling away.

Maia came over and tugged on Clary's half-ponytail as a greeting. "Off to Hawaii, are you? Are you taking us?"

Clary swatted the other girl's hand away and snorted. "You wish, Maia."

After everyone else exchanged hugs and laughter and nervousness about the upcoming trip, there was a lull in the conversation, which Simon took advantage of. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he strode up to face Jace. Front-to-front, Clary definitely enjoyed watching them. They were both about the same height, and close to the same good-looks, but in their own ways. Jace looked like an angel with an incredibly enticing muscular structure. He stood haughty and proud, eyes narrowed mischievously as usual. Simon was slim and lithe, bad posture turned into something like a feline arch to his back. A contemplating look was twinkling in his eyes.

Simon blinked, suddenly threatening. "If you dare get Clary pregnant I'm going to rip your head off, you know that, right?" His vampy fangs were sticking just barely out of his lips, visible only if you were looking, which everyone _was_.

Clary wanted to point her finger at Jace and laugh. _Told you so_…

Jace's blond eyebrow just arched amusedly. "Is that so, vampire?"

"Yes."

A sexy grin spread across his face and he looked, dramatically over at Clary. "I suppose we'll _try_…"

Simon knew the other boy was joking. The look on his face was exasperated, but content. He stuck a hand out of his pocket and shook Jace's. Behind their relatively calm demeanor, each one had a look of great amusement peeking through.

Isabelle and Clary just had to sigh and exchange looks like _they're actually getting along_.

"I suppose this is goodbye? For a few weeks at least," Simon said, walking over to Clary. "Are you the one making the portal?"

Clary took the handle of her suitcase with both hands and nodded. Simon made a motion with his hands and they all shuffled towards the unseen nook in the giant church that was normally used for portaling. You could see the faint rectangular outline where it had been used so much. Isabelle, Clary and Jace stepped forwards out of the group with their luggage and turned back to face everyone.

Jocelyn stepped forwards and put her arms briefly around Clary. "_Behave, _okay? If you don't come home in one piece you are _seriously_ grounded."

"Okay, Mom." Clary bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Excitement was building fast in her chest. _I'm going to Hawaii! No adult supervision! With Jace…_

Luke hugged her, too. When he pulled away, his hand ruffled her hair and sent her ponytail awry. "You're growing up so fast."

"Ickle Clarykins is a big girl now," Jace whispered loudly in her ear and jabbed her in the side.

When Clary let out a muffled screech, Luke turned and raised an eyebrow at the blond Shadowhunter. "Jace… You know what I'm going to say."

"Yes." His eyes twinkled. "I'll take care of her, don't you worry."

"You'd better." Luke eyed Jace for another second before clapping him on the shoulder. "Have fun, kids."

Simon and Maia stood off near the side, and even though they tried hiding it, their fingers were twined together. When Clary caught Simon's eyes, he grinned and gave her a typical Simon look.

"Will you do the honor, milady?" With a flourish, Jace swept a stele from his weapons belt and offered it to her.

Taking it from him, Clary looked back out over her friends and family. "See you all in two weeks?"

A chorus of "have fun"s and "be good"s and "love you"s answered the three.

"Alright…" Taking a deep breath, Clary turned back around and put the tip of the stele to the wall. _Portal_… Like a spilled cup of liquid, the shimmering purplish-bluish-blackish portal material flowed from the rune and filled the invisible doorway. It crackled and hummed with magic.

"We'll see you two weeks, then."

Jace slipped his hand into Clary's and they both grabbed their luggage. Isabelle had expertly stacked her bags in a somewhat-secure manner, and had already said goodbye to her family. Though the portal was only as big as an average doorway, the three slipped through it easily, side-by-side, and was sucked into a weightless, tumbling universe, on their way to the Hawaii islands.

**oOo**

_Yay! Next chapter we get to go to Hawaii! Review and tell me what you guys want to happen, okay? I'll take ALL requests. _


	6. Chapter 6

_To the lovely person who begged for Clary and Jace not to behave, I have something to say to you…_

_YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

**oOo**

All the wind was knocked out of Clary's lungs between one moment and the next as she hit hard on a cold, hard surface. Her forehead smacked against the ground and she only had time to gasp in pain before another pressure made her cry out again.

Isabelle tumbled over Clary and knocked the wind out of her again.

"Get off me…" the smaller girl wheezed, struggling to toss Izzy off of her back. The place where Clary's head had hit the cement (sidewalk?) was throbbing, and she felt something warm on her skin.

"Sorry." Tripping over the shimmering silver material, Isabelle heaved herself upright, brushed off her dress and looked around. "Where's Jace?"

Clary, too, stood up and scanned her surroundings. It was glorious. Tall, leafy trees tickled the blue skies and people bustled around tiny island shops. Barely visible through a small thicket of palm trees was something grey and sparkling. Could it be…the ocean?

"Wow…" she whispered, arching her eyebrows slowly. Then she realized the horribly odd looks she was being given by the townspeople. They did and double-take and widened their eyes curiously at the two girls (one in tattered jeans and a hoodie, the other in a magnificent gown that was not suited for a walk in Hawaii), stopping to frown in worry at Clary's forehead.

"They're staring at us," Clary noted, attempting to brush off a skid on her left knee where it, too, had hit the pavement.

Isabelle glanced at her nonchalantly. "Of course. We just materialized out of thin—Clary!" She, too, did a double take and hurried up to her friend, gawking at her forehead. "You're bleeding like _mad_. We need to clean that up. Come on." Iz grabbed Clary's hand and tried dragging her away to the nearest store, which looked like an adorable little Hawaiian diner.

"But what about our luggage?" Clary protested, whipping her head furiously around, remembering the fifty suitcases the three had brought. "And Jace?"

"They'll find us." And Isabelle succeeded dragging her friend past the diner's front door and shoved her into the bathroom without anyone seeing them too much.

Cramped in the bathroom that was only meant for one person at a time, Izzy briefly scrubbed her hands and fished a stele out of one of her black combat boots. She yanked the paper towel dispenser and wetted a wad of the stuff with the sputtering trickle bursting from the rusted sink tap.

"Ow," Clary hissed as her cut was cleaned off.

Isabelle wrinkled her nose. "There's so much blood…" Sighing, she tossed the paper towels and drew a hasty _iratze _on the cut. It immediately felt better.

After cleaning up the rest of the blood, Isabelle smiled with satisfaction. "It wasn't that big of a cut. Out you go, now. I can't breathe." She shoved the other girl out and tripped after her, discreetly slipping the stele back into her boot.

"There you two are!" Jace appeared in front of them and knocked their heads together in what was either annoyance or affection.

"Oww…" Clary grumbled again, wincing at her growing headache.

"Where were you?"

All of the people in the diner had stopped to stare at the trio, Jace's loud, concerned voice attracting attention.

Isabelle didn't seem at all perturbed by his actions and attitude, because she straightened up and flashed a sparkling smile. "We landed right outside this diner here. Clary just hit her head. I fixed her right up. Do you have our suitcases?"

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine, thank you for asking. I landed _behind_ the diner, thank you for asking that as well." Jace's smile was perfectly gorgeous and arrogant. "And yes, I have the luggage."

Isabelle kept her eyebrow raised at her brother, and Clary was frowning at Jace, who was beaming, ignoring the both of us. Then, out of the blue, Izzy giggled and skipped to the door, not turning back to look at Clary and Jace. "Well, we're in Hawaii. If you want to spend all day sniffling away inside the diner like little moles, be my guest, but I'm going _swimming_."

"But where do we put all our stuff?" Clary called after her, jogging halfheartedly after her friend.

Iz skidded on the pavement directly in front of the little restaurant and paused. "…Okay, we'll go swimming _after_ we find our lodgings. Promise?"

Sighing heavily, Clary consented. "Fine, Isabelle, _fine_."

Her frown was lovely. "Why don't you seem excited? Have you looked around yourself? Have you taken a few seconds to just let it _soak in_?"

"Of course I have," said the other girl accusingly, but even then she had to stop. The three of them had stopped outside, a few feet from the door, and the words spoken from Isabelle were actually listened to. Clary took the moment to breathe everything in, to let it "soak in", in her friends' words.

Delicious smells were floating in from the eatery behind the three, caught by a warm, salty breeze. Seagulls called to one another over the treetops and buildings, swooping in and out of the beach, filling the air with the automatic sense of _ocean_. Clary could even taste it from there.

Natural-looking houses and quiet, soft people seemed to make up the town they were in, greeting each other amiably on their way past. None of the buildings were too big or too fancy, and they all had traces of the sea round them; beach glass wind-chimes, shell mosaics, huge speckled rocks and drift wood. Dancing trees were everywhere, but in all the right places. Strips in front of some stores, around wooden benches, just _there_. The sky above them was clearer and more pure blue than the sky in New York ever got, with barely a single cloud in sight. It let the glorious golden sun beat onto their faces; hot, but not too hot. It was perfect.

Releasing a content sigh, Clary couldn't help but let her face stretch into a smile. "It tastes so beautiful. So many _colors_."

Jace's hand just barely touched her hair and she turned to see him grinning.

"It gets better than this," he told her with a wink. "Just wait until we get out of town. Our beach house will be just on the edge of the ocean, facing west, where the setting sun will be. The way the light hits the water is just…" He stopped there with a grin, knowing he'd gotten too girly with describing. Clary returned that grin with no problem.

Isabelle had strangely disappeared. It took a few minutes to find her, where she was talking to a maple-syrup-skinned old man with few teeth and a smile that told a beautiful story.

After briefly introducing Clary and Jace, Izzy turned to them happily. "He can get us a beach house."

The four talked for a while over coffee at the diner the just left, and after some discussion, the old man agreed to take them out to see the houses. Once their luggage was packed into the back of a car (Jace still hadn't said where he'd kept it), the four of them were off.

"That one." Clary pointed out of the car window. "Definitely that one."

Jace flicked her on the head. "That's what you said for the last one. And the one before that."

"But I like _this one_."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Jace."

The old man had picked up quickly on all of our relationships and personalities, and found Jace and Clary's perpetual arguing (_fond _arguing) very amusing. Isabelle was mostly the one who was talking to him, glowing as radiant as the midday sun as they saw each house.

The beach was even better than remembered. The ocean sparkled with a brilliance that could slightly be compared to a birds-eye view of New York City in the nighttime, but _better_. Infinitely better. And each house they looked at had its own magic qualities. Jace didn't like the first because it was facing north. The second was much too small.

The one they were looking at was a decent size (okay, it was bigger than "decent-sized"), and faced as west as they come. On the off-white wood walls was rock siding, with a sweet little white deck out front and a brick walkway winding around the part of the yard that wasn't sand. A flower garden crawled up one side of the house, and the side of the house that faced the ocean sank into the sand and was sheltered with eaves, holding a few windows with window boxes holding an array of colorful tulips.

"There is still more, little lady," chuckled the old man in his thick Hawaiian accent, eyes crinkling up. "This one takes more care then the others because of the flowers."

"Why don't you and Jace go look around, Clarissa, I'll get it." Isabelle smiled at the two other people in the middle of the car and turned back to the man to negotiate a price.

Clary was glad to get out. She had never felt comfortable at Shadowhunters' unfettered access to money. Renting a beach-front house in Hawaii for two weeks was probably nothing to them.

"Get moving," Jace poked Clary in her side, making her squeal and trip forwards a little faster.

"I'm moving, I'm moving…" She glanced at him (he'd fallen in step next to her) and felt her lips slip into a smile.

He caught her glance and poked her again, making her trip over one of the stepping stones. Jace caught her arm and hauled her back upright so they could continue walking up the path. "Klutz."

She smacked his shoulder.

As they got up closer to the house, it was even better. The faded white front deck made little sound as Clary and Jace walked across it, but the few wind chimes sang in the breeze. Jace opened the door for Clary and they both went in. It had the same peaceful, beachy feeling as it did outside. All of the walls were painted white, with white curtains and furniture with dark wooden frames and bits of shells and drift wood hanging around on the windowsills and in the pots of flowers hanging from the ceiling.

A massive window let light into the living room, and gentle florescent lights lit the hallway as they walked down it. The first door to their left was the kitchen. It was full of pots and pans and spoons and oven mitts hanging on the walls, as much wooden things as possible. A breeze was let in from the cracked-open window.

On the right of the hallway was a bedroom, with a queen-sized bed wrapped in white quilts sitting on a high-built mahogany bed frame. Matching wardrobes and desks were pushed against the wall, and there was a door to a small private bathroom.

Clary and Jace tour the house slowly, making mental inventory of all the rooms. There was a living room, a kitchen, a library, a study/music room, three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a basement with a ping-pong table set up and beanbags squished up in front of a TV. They were just climbing the basement steps back up to the living room when Isabelle skipping in, holding a thick packet of papers, but looking incredibly pleased.

"We got it! Is it any good?" She peered around with an impressed smile on her face.

"It's _excellent_," Clary said, beginning to get more excited with every passing second. "Are our suitcases here?"

Isabelle nodded. "All on the front porches. Is there enough rooms?"

"Three."

Jace tried to suppress a sarcastic grin, but he failed. "Good job, Clary. There _are_ three of us, unless Magnus stowed away."

"If that's the case, he's sleeping in the basement." Izzy sniffed.

"I'd rather sleep in the basement," he rolled his eyes.

"Well, by all means…"

"Shut up, you guys." Clary was the one that quieted them, laughing. "I want to be able to actually unpack this year. What's all that paperwork for, Iz?"

She cocked her head at it and blinked, as if she hadn't noticed she was holding it. "Oh, just some legal stuff. Insurance for the musical instruments and electronics and whatnot. That old man said this even has a dock some ways on the shore we can use." She shrugged. "Do you have a pretty good idea which room you want?"

Clary furrowed her brows, but shook her head indifferently. "Two of them are the same, but the third is larger with a bigger bed and bathroom."

"Bigger is always better…" Jace mumbled under his breath, but he was ignored.

"You have more stuff, you can have it," Clary offered Isabelle. "Jace and I'll get the west-facing rooms."

Izzy peered at the other girl as if to determine whether or not she was planning anything devious by letting her take the bigger room, but decided against it. "That works. Let's get our luggage in and unpacked so we can go swimming."

All three went outside and gathered their suitcases that were on the front patio.

"Did you even bring a swimsuit?" Isabelle asked Clary as she was waddling through the hall under the weight of fifty billion bags.

"Of course I did." Clary rolled her eyes.

"Is it just a T-shirt and shorts?"

"…Yes?"

"We need to get you to the nearest mall." Izzy clicked her tongue in disapproval and squeezed into her new room, dumping all of the luggage onto her bed. "And _soon_."

"I'll live without bikinis and dresses, you know, Iz," Clary yelled from the room across from her sisters' as she opened her own suitcase on her bed.

"Not with me around, you won't."

Clary rolled her eyes, and began pulling folded pieces of clothing from her suitcase. It all fit nicely into the tall wardrobe, with plenty of room to spare. That'd be good, thought Clary, since Isabelle's going to drag her out shopping some time.

On the top of the dresser went a small framed picture of her, her mom, Luke, and Simon. It seemed necessary on a two-week trip away from them. Clary stared at it for a few more moments before gathering her hairbrush and shampoos and bathroom stuff to dump in their bathroom. When she was finally done, she took a moment to bend over her cell phone, back to the door.

"You coming?"

Letting out a startled cry, Clary flinched and spun around to find Jace breathing on her neck. He grinned, tawny eyes sparkling. Apparently he had less to unpack, because he obviously had time to change into swim trunks and a jacket.

"Not…not yet," she mumbled, putting her cell on the bedside stand and walking over to the dresser. "I was busy unpacking."

"You girls pack so much," Jace noted, shaking his head in mock disapproval. "Even Isabelle is almost done changing."

"I'm going, alright?" Giving her boyfriend an affectionate scowl, Clary grabbed an old shirt and shorts from the clothes she brought and went to change in her bathroom.

After changing, she examined herself in the mirror. Hawaii Islands, day one. She looked excited and ready to go frolicking on the beach, with two towels (one to lay on, one to dry off with) sluing over her shoulder, a bottle of sunscreen in one hand, the other twisting eager knots in the bottom of her T-shirt. She was ready. Proudly wielding her beach supplies, Clary padded out of the bathroom with bare feet and left to go outside.

"It's about _time_," Isabelle rolled her eyes, but didn't look upset. She, too, had towels and sunscreen with her, but unlike Clary, she was completely decked out for beach-frolicking on a private stretch of beach in Hawaii. She was wearing a black string bikini and a long white cover-up. Her hair was down and flowing around her and a pair of sunglasses was perched on her perfect, small nose. She looked like a swimsuit model.

Clary wished she'd put on some clothes.

Jace, who hadn't brought anything except for his own jacket, put his arm around Clary's waist as they walked down the hot sand. It molded against their feet and made walking there a slightly-less-than-pleasant experience since the sun had warmed up the little grains just right. A few paces from the palm tree line, Isabelle stretched out her towel and did a quick application of sunscreen before tossing off her cover-up and sunglasses and running full-speed towards the water.

Clary watched from her own towel as Izzy splashed ungracefully into the water and disappeared under.

"What I don't get," Jace was sprawled out on the sand next to Clary's towel, "is how come you two had to bring so much stuff to the beach when it's only thirty feet away from the house."

"It's a girl thing." Clary assured him. "Sunscreen?"

"No thanks." He watched her through amused eyes as she put on a fast layer of the SPF before standing up again.

They strode slowly across the hot sand to the surf, in no hurry. Jace had taken off his jacket, exposing a terribly well-built chest that was hard to look away from, it glowed so golden-like.

"Look right there, Clary," he pointed out, finger directed towards a few wooden poles sticking from the water a little ways into the ocean. Some were only a foot from the small waves, some more like four feet from the surface. "You see those posts sticking from the water?"

Clary nodded.

"We can use those to practice balancing."

She narrowed her eyes cynically at the poles. They had the circumference to barely rival a cantaloupes'. What a nice laugh that would be to try and stand on one of those.

Jace threw back his head and let out a burst of laughter at her expression. "It isn't as hard as it looks, I promise. Come,"

He took her around the line of palm trees and they walked along the shore line until they came upon a rickety wooden dock that stuck twenty feet out into the ocean. At the very end, tied to a loop, was a paddle boat. Clary didn't think it would fare so well against the stronger waves of the ocean, but rather for fun to paddle around the edge of the island.

Just then, Isabelle appeared again at the surface, and hauled herself from the water onto the dock. Her black hair was plastered to her face and chest, and a huge smile shaped her lips.

"The water's warm," she said, moving a curtain of hair from one of her eyes. "Are you two coming in or going to attempt to sneak away from me?"

Jace rubbed his chin. "I think…sneak away."

Clary felt her face warm up a little and rolled her eyes. "We're just looking around."

"Sure…" Izzy popped her elbows up on the dock and she paddled her feet playfully behind her. "Well, come in if you want."

Jace smiled at her, a smile that the girls recognized. It was his I'm-up-to-no-good smile. Taking his hand from Clary's, he shrugged at Isabelle and began running full-speed, straight towards her. Isabelle's mouth popped open in surprise and she just had enough time to disappear under the water before Jace catapulted himself off the docking.

Clary let out a small squeak. "Jace!"

With a bellow of laughter, he flew into the air and—flailing his limbs all around—preformed the clumsiest cannonball Clary had ever seen. A plume of water shot up and sprayed the dock after he vanished. Clary rushed over to the edge of the dock and got on her hands and knees to peer after him.

A few seconds later, Jace resurfaced, wincing. "It's shallow over here. Don't jump."

It was impossible not to laugh. "Whatever you say, Jace." Shaking her head, Clary slid her feet into the water and just sat on the edge of the dock, splashing her toes around like a kid.

"You're not coming in?" A mischievous twinkle appeared in Jace's eyes. "Why ever not? The water's perfectly warm." When Clary still shook her head, he dragged himself up onto the deck next to her and sat. "What do you plan on doing this entire time if you're not going to enjoy yourself at least a little bit?"

"I plan on enjoying myself," she said defensively, trying not to smile. "I'm just letting it all _soak in_."

"Let _this_ soak in." Jace shoved her off the dock.

For a few hours the three teenage demon hunters swam around in the tepid Hawaiian water, splashing and attempting to drown one another. The sun was a thumbs-width over the horizon when Jace lugged Clary onto his shoulders and swam out to the wooden poles sticking up from the water.

"Climb on," he told her when he'd stopped directly under one of the shorter ones.

"Are you insane?" Clary clutched his neck. "I can't balance on one of those!"

Jace sighed. "It's not impossible. Watch." He let Clary slide from his back and then promptly reached up to grip the very top of the tallest pole, which was sticking about four feet from the surface of the water.

Muscles popped out on his back and arms as he preformed one of the most awkward, difficult-looking pull-ups Clary had ever seen. He lifted his entire body out of the water and managed to get his foot on the top of the pole. Clary watched with a gaping mouth as he stood up straight and grinned down at her, balancing four feet above the surface of the water on a skinny wooden pole.

"See?" He held his arms out like a bird.

_Or an angel,_ Clary thought, but she just raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, well, you're obviously magic or something."

Jace laughed, and it seemed to reverberate on the water. "Obviously." And suddenly, he turned around to face the horizon and launched his body off the pole. It seemed in slow motion he spun once, and spread his arms to crash into the water ten feet away.

Isabelle popped her head up next to Clary. "Did Jace just…?"

"Yeah." The other girl had the oddest face on, and blinked after her boyfriend, who was still under the water. "Should we see if he's okay?"

"Nah." Izzy laughed. "He's alive. Hey, I'm hungry. I'm going to go back and fix us some dinner."

"No, no!" Clary spoke too fast, and earned a scowl from her friend. "I-I mean… We should go out to eat. You know, since it's out first day here."

Iz flicked her on the ear, as Jace often did. "Nice save, Clarissa." She promptly disappeared back underwater and could be seen a few seconds later dragging her soggy self onto the sand.

Shaking her head, Clary turned back to the water where Jace had vanished. Did he drown? Surely not, that would be the most humiliating death for him. He's probably playing some trick, and going to pull her under by the ankles any second. Clary glanced down and squinted at her feet nervously through the clear blue waters. No sign of Jace. Hm.

The shortest balancing pole was in front of her, where Jace had dropped her off. It was only a foot out of the water, at the most. It didn't seem too impossible, even though her feet weren't even touching the bottom of the ocean. Mostly out of curiosity, she gripped it and attempted to slid into it gracefully like the other Shadowhunter did. It dug into her gut, but she managed to haul her feet up on it. Clasping the edge of the wood with both hands, squatting with both feet on it, she peered at the water around her for any sign of Jace.

It was almost as if he was telling her to stand up.

Clary nervously let go, and stood with shaky legs. Both feet wouldn't fit, so she was forced to only be on one. And she was doing it, balancing on a tiny wooden pole suspended above the surface of the ocean water. It really wasn't as hard as she had made it out to be.

"It's about time."

Letting out a squeak, Clary lost balance and fell back into the water.

Arms caught her, and suddenly she was looking into Jace's incredibly amused, wet face. "See?"

Feeling her face grow warm, she squirmed away from him and began swimming backwards clumsily. "Whatever, Jace." She rolled her eyes at his grin. "Isabelle's already inside. We're going to eat out for dinner."

"Good. I'm STARVING."

They slogged up onto the shore and to the towels spread a ways a way. Clary tried to dry herself facing away from Jace because of the T-shirt sticking to her chest. Jace, who failed to bring a towel, just shook wildly like a dog, splattering her with a fine spray of water. When Clary gave him a look, he just winked.

"You may NOT come inside until you've dried off," Isabelle said through the screen door.

Jace huffed. "I'm not that wet, Iz. Let me in. I need to change clothes."

"No."

He went in anyways, shoving past her and chuckling victoriously, despite the evil look on his sister's face.

Clary was in her room, drying her hair. For dinner she changed into her less-ratty idea of dressing up: a pair of faded (but intact) jeans and a vest over a long-sleeved white T-shirt. She dried her hair out with the hair blower and combed out her tangled red curls.

"Are you _done_ yet?" Isabelle poked her head into the bathroom door, frowning.

Clary turned off the hair dryer and waved her friend away. "Yeah, yeah. I am. Where's Jace?"

"Exploring the library."

It was easy matching Izzy's excitement with her own muted version (that is, with less skipping and giggling). Clary had never been to Hawaii before, and to go alone with Jace and Isabelle made it ten times more thrilling. Scooting past her friend, she walked a few paces down the hallway before finding the correct door to the library.

"…Jace?" Clary poked her head in, but didn't see him anywhere behind the shelves. Compared to the library in the Institute, this was incredibly minute, but still magnificent and warm.

"Yes?" Jace's face popped up right in front of hers all of a sudden, an eyebrow lifted cockily and a grin playing on his lips.

Clary tried to keep a straight face on and hold her ground, no matter how close his face was to hers. "We're leaving, if you're coming with."

"Of course." He took advantage of the moment by giving her a quick kiss on the lips, and slipping past her into the hallway.

"You're a disgusting eater," Isabelle said, wrinkling her nose at her brother.

Jace was across the table from Isabelle and Clary, eating a plateful of sticky honey-apple-sesame barbecued chicken wings with his fingers and getting it all over his face.

Clary tried not to laugh, ducking her head and smiling into the burger lifted to her mouth.

Jace lifted his head up and raised his eyebrows, displaying a playful, sticky grin.

"Use a napkin at least." Iz flicked a napkin in his direction and went back to her leafy Hawaiian salad.

They ate in silence for another few minutes. Like always in public, Clary noticed several girl in the corner of the restaurant staring and giggling at Jace as he made an adorable mess with his food. The difference was that this time when he noticed them, he just struck up a loud conversation with Clary and put an arm around her shoulders. The girls looked disappointed.

The sun was down by the time they got out. Isabelle kept complaining about how it was too late to go shopping.

"Tomorrow," she promised Clary with a scowl on her pretty face, "bright and early we're waking up and spending the day at the mall, and you're going to _like it_."

"No, I probably won't," Clary said, shrugging. "I already have everything I need, Iz."

"What about the skimpy bikinis and short dresses and corset tops?" It was obvious Isabelle was joking because of the grin that was plastered on her face. She glanced back at her brother. "Are you sure you don't want to come, Jace? Dressing room experiences are always noteworthy with Clary."

Jace threw his head back and laughed, trying to knock his hip against his girlfriend's. "Maybe I'll rethink your offer."

Face bright as a cherry, Clary rolled her eyes and said nothing.

When the trio got home, Isabelle and Jace went directly into their bedrooms and shut their doors. Clary, though, took her time showering and changing into a pair of her PJs. She wasn't the least bit tired, even though the day was one of the longest she's had. Letting out a content sigh, she went to go stand over by the window.

The moon was definitely out by then, but there were no clouds or wind to disturb anything. In fact, it was most beautiful because the only way you could tell the ocean's horizon was the reflection of the moon.

"You didn't think I'd go to bed without telling you goodnight, did you?"

In her peripheral vision, Clary saw Jace lean onto the windowsill next to her. His hair was dark gold and wet, and he only had on a pair of long plaid pajama bottoms slung low on his hips.

"Of course not." A smile appeared on Clary's lips and she leaned into his side, still looking out at the ocean.

Jace put his arm around her and kissed her on the top of her head. "How do you like Hawaii so far?"

"It's not bad."

Jace laughed, but then quieted in fright that his sister would come and find them. "If I wasn't so tired, I'd probably suggest some form of totally awesome midnight skinny dipping, b—"

"_Jace,_" Clary smacked his shoulder, but stifled laughter against her sleeve. _**"I can't skinny dip with you, I'm wearing clothes!"**_

_**Hi Lana, I am helping you write your Mortal Instruments fan fiction! I could make this next scene excitingly dirty, but I won't because my ear hurts and we are about to watch Semi-Pro with Will Ferrel. I really don't like Will Ferrel. Michael just told me if my armpit hair keeps growing I might have an afro.**_

_** You have to promise to publish this stuff otherwise when I die I'll haunt you, I'll haunt you BAD.**_

_** I love you!**_

_** Love, your loving sister, Morgan Love Chesley Unicorn Love Love Cake Pants Chesley.**_

"I think Isabelle just got out of the bathroom." Jace shook his head, a grin still plastered on his face. "That's my cue to leave. I'll see you tomorrow, Clary." He tugged on a lock of her hair before turning to leave her room.

Something must be up with him, Clary thought. He didn't try to stay and harass her until Iz came in. Sighing, she drew the curtains over the window and went to close the door her boyfriend left open. It was lord-knows-how-late, and she was most likely going to be woken up nice and early to get dragged to the mall. Might as well save up her energy for trying to get out of that.

After relaxing under the foreign -smelling covers, it took no time slipping into an easy sleep.

**oOo**

_That wasn't too bad, was it? Sorry about the end. My sister wanted to help me so I handed her my laptop and she totally raped it. I had no choice BUT to publish what she said. :D_

_Review!_


	7. Chapter 7

_I've never been to Hawaii, and I'm too lazy to do my homework on it before writing this, so no one badger me if I get my facts wrong. (:_

_In this chapter I introduce some lovely OC's of mine. My sister and I wrote an entire other story about them and developed their characters quite nicely, but I know how annoying OC's can get in good fanfictions, so I'll keep their appearance limited. _

_Have fun reading!_

**oOo**

When Clary woke, it was to a quiet environment and warm light coming in from her bedroom window. Letting out a little yawn, she rolled off of the bed and dragged herself into the bathroom. This was very odd, not waking up to a shrieking Isabelle or a seductive Jace trying to convince her to sneak out with him.

After using the toilet and splashing water on her face, Clary left her room and shuffled down the hall, still in her pajamas. Izzy's room door was still shut, so she suspected the other girl was still sleeping. That would mean the tasty crackling sound coming from the kitchen was…Jace? Putting on a highly curious face, Clary poked her head into the kitchen.

Standing in front of the stove, wearing only navy blue boxers and poking something in a frying pan with a fork, was Jace.

Feeling a smile cross her face, Clary leaned against the doorframe to watch her boyfriend obliviously poke pieces of bacon on the other side of the room. His hair was dark gold from a recent shower and he was whistling quietly to himself. It was hard not to laugh at the sight, but she managed.

Clary snuck up behind him and put her chin on his bicep. "What a funny thing to walk in on." She grinned.

Apparently he'd been used to her sneaking up on him, because Jace just glanced sideways at her. "I see you dressed up nice and fancy for breakfast this morning."

"Har-har." Clary did not dress up in the least. Her pj's were askew, her hair was messy, and she put no makeup on before skipping out. Ignoring Jace's sarcasm, she detached herself from his arm and picked up a piece of cooled bacon to nibble on. "I wasn't aware you cooked, Jace."

"I don't. At least," He winked, "not often. When you live with Isabelle, it's either sink or swim."

"When you live with me _what's_ either sink or swim?"

Speak of the devil, Izzy shuffled into the room and took a seat at the table. Like Clary, she, too, was still in her pajamas, but she looked a great deal better. A teensy pink nighty adorned her ribbon-slim body and her braids were still perfect and unruffled from sleep. A hint of leftover makeup touched her eyes and lips, completing the crazy lingerie-supermodel look.

Without letting anyone answer her question, Isabelle peeked at Clary through her big, black eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Boy, are you overdressed."

Though it was obvious sarcasm, Clary couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I wasn't aware I would be attending some strip-con this morning. It was shocking enough to walk into the kitchen still mostly asleep and run into a half-naked Jace making bacon. _Bacon_!"

Jace winked.

"It's not your fault, Clarissa," Isabelle said graciously, but started snickering. "You probably haven't owned one skimpy piece of nightwear in your life. Which—might I add—is going to change this afternoon as soon as we finish breakfast and I get better dressed."

"There's nothing wrong with my pajamas," Clary said defensively, plopping down on a chair in front of Iz and picking up a piece of bacon. "I don't have to run around half-naked like you guys all the time."

"Jace agrees with me. Don't you, Jace?"

"Full-heartedly."

They've argued about that without end. Iz trying to make Clary dress more like her, Clary complaining, Jace being the perverted boyfriend he was. It was almost routine.

Isabelle, with a dainty, smug look on, sat back and began gnawing on another bit of bacon. "Now that that's solved, what exactly is the plan for today?"

"I thought you already thought that out, Is." Clary rolled her eyes again at her friend. "Wasn't that what we were just arguing about?"

Unabashed, the other girl cocked her head slightly, tipping one of her black braids off of her shoulder. "I'm talking about Jace."

"I'm a big boy, Isabelle." Jace put on an adorable little grin, but his sarcasm wasn't masked one bit. "I can take care of myself."

"Are you going to meet us at the mall for lunch, then?"

"Probably." He stood up, tossing the greasy plate into the sink. "It won't be that hard to find you."

Two gorgeous Shadowhunter girls walking around the mall with bags of clothing slung around their arms would turn as many heads as a twenty-foot-tall penguin would. Except maybe with less fright.

Isabelle was done showering and changing before Clary even left the kitchen. One minute she was leaning against the counter talking to Jace, and the next, Izzy was skipping into the kitchen wearing a fluttery black skirt and a deep red corset top. Insane crazy stilettos made her totter many inches higher than usual, which put her _very_ much higher than Clary. The runes on her cream skin were glamoured away from the mundane eyes, even if the other two Shadowhunters could see them.

"Her Majesty return," Jace said with a sort of loud, joking sarcasm and a grin that would have made any other girl swoon.

Isabelle stuck her tongue out at her brother and then turned to Clary. "You aren't _dressed_ yet?"

"I was talking to Jace."

"Well, go get dressed. We're leaving in fifteen minutes." Smiling contentedly, she peeked up at Jae from examining her impeccably manicured nails. "Are you staying home?"

Jace rubbed his five o'clock shadow. "Mm… No, I think I'm going to go out and rake up elderly people's lawns for free, and then maybe give orphans some ice cream. In my boxers."

As Clary was leaving the kitchen, she caught what he said and left the room sniggering into her palm.

Knowing that Isabelle was waiting for her, Clary took only a five-minute shower and threw on a thin, white cotton dress that touched a few inches above her knees. Though she briefly considered tights under, she just put on a pair of her green Converse shoes and slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and walked into the living room, hair still damp.

Izzy was still waiting there for Clary, perched on the arm of one of the sofas, freshening up her mascara. When she looked up and saw her friend ready to go, a small, amused smile touched her blood red lips. "It's about time. No makeup?"

Remembering the last time Clary'd let Izzy do her makeup, she inwardly shuddered. "I think I'm good."

"No, hold on."

It took thirty seconds to attack her with an eyeliner pencil and lipstick. By the time Isabelle was putting away her makeup, Jace had ambled into the living room, actually wearing clothes. He looked at Clary for a moment before nodding with appreciation.

"Do me a favor and don't get raped, okay, Clary?" Jace ruffled her hair and flashed her a wink. "I hear how much Hawaiian men like sexy redheaded midgets."

Clary frowned.

"We'll see you at lunch, Jace!" Izzy leapt off the couch and opened the door for her and Clary. "Hopefully Clary'll be wearing something a little less ten-year-old-ish."

Ignoring his girlfriends' infuriated look, Jace pecked her on the cheek. "I'll be looking forward to it. Now get out of here." He all but pushed the girls out of the house with a wink and fake-scowl. "The strippers will be here any minute."

"…Strippers?" Clary murmured in confusion, but got no chance to ask because soon Isabelle was pulling her by her wrist out the door and down the porch.

Only a few seconds passed before she thought of a major problem.

"How are we even going to get into town, Iz?" Clary asked. "We were driven last time."

"I called a cab, smart one." Isabelle gave her friend a weird look. "There is _no_ way I could walk all that way in these heels." To prove her point, she paused walking and tapped the spike of one of her stilettos on the walkway.

Ten minutes later, the two Shadowhunter girls found themselves sitting next to each other in a husky-smelling Hawaiian taxicab, being driven to town. Overcome by squeamish curiosity, Clary had to take out her cell and text Jace.

_Clary: You were joking about the strippers, right?_

"We've been gone not fifteen minutes and you're already texting him?" Isabelle said in disbelief, looking over the other girl's shoulder.

Clary ignored her, and when her cell phone buzzed again, she turned the screen away so no one could read over her shoulder.

_Jace: Of course not. You're not the best at strip teases, no offense. A guy can go on withdrawal from such things. _

_Clary: I'm being serious, Jace._

_Jace: Why in the world would I hire strippers? I don't even like Hawaiians that much._

_Clary: Then why were you the one to pick it?_

_Jace: I'm here for the beach. And for you. Not for anyone else. It shouldn't matter that much._

_Clary: Whatever._

_Jace: So, no strippers. Sorry. Maybe we can get Iz to run an errand tomorrow so you can show off those new clothes of yours to me._

_Clary: Good BYE, Jace._

_Jace: Get something nice._

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Clary closed her phone and stuffed it back into her messenger bag. "Men…"

"What were you guys talking about?" Isabelle fiddled with her hair in the rear-view mirror. "Your face in bright red."

Sighing, Clary admitted it. "Strippers, actually. He's such a…a…"

"Teenage boy?"

"I was going to say pervert, but their one in the same." She smiled a tiny bit and peered out of her window, letting the subject drop.

They had gotten into town. Tall, leafy trees swayed in rows in front of little brown shops full of people young and old. Clary loved watching the people as they went by, but with every passing second, Isabelle's face grew into a frown.

"…Hey," Iz leaned forward and confronted their young Hawaiian cab driver. "Is there anywhere on this god-forsaken island with an actual _mall_?"

Looking highly annoyed, the driver scowled forward at the road and said with a thick accent, "Miss, we have to drive through neighboring towns to get to the city. We'll get there in ten minutes."

"Good." Isabelle settled back again.

As promised, a little over ten minutes later the taxi pulled into a highway branching into a promising city with buildings that were actually more than one story tall.

"Right here," Isabelle tapped on the window, pointing to a large building to their right with a number of loud signs decorating walls.

Pulling in front of the nearest opening, the cab driver told them the amount, got paid, and drove off the second Clary and Isabelle stepped out. When they stepped inside, it was almost comical what happened. Nearly every single head had turned towards them and stared.

Isabelle took it like she always did: with a glowing smile and a swing to her hips, letting the air sweep her black hair around her shoulders as if an invisible fan was blowing in her face. Clary was momentarily annoyed (or jealous, perhaps) when she saw the effect she had on all of the men, but the feeling vanished when she noticed a good portion of the people staring at her as well.

"Imagine how many people will stare once I'm finished with you," Iz said with a charming laugh. "Now come on. Let's see if we can find somewhere in here that sells _real_ clothes."

Apparently "real" clothes did not include Levi jeans or T-shirts or sneakers. Clary found this out the hard way when they passed a number of stores selling just that. Up ahead, she saw the entrance to a comical-looking store, with lots of neon and black and absurd-looking clothes that "normal" people just aren't seen wearing around that much and music coming from inside.

Clary might have laughed at it if Isabelle hadn't grabbed her wrist and tugged her in.

The second they stepped in the store, Clary scoffed loudly. "I refuse to wear anything that comes from here."

"Nonsense. There's some good stuff." Isabelle peered above racks of lingerie at other shelves, and pointed at a leather dress with cords laced up the back. "You can't buy _that_ at JC-Penny's, can you?"

"…That doesn't mean I'll wear it."

"Look," Iz put her hand on her friend's shoulder and said in an exasperated, but not really rude voice (which had dropped quieter so as not to be overheard), "Be in denial all you want, but Shadowhunters don't run around killing demons in Angels jeans and a Blink-182 sweatshirt, okay? First off, you'd get sliced to smithereens, second…" She made a face. "It's just _so_ uncool."

"I don't have to dress like a whore to be a Shadowhunter!" Clary said indignantly. She may not mention it, but she was greatly insulted. And besides, she didn't even like Blink-182.

Isabelle's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying I dress like a whore?"

"No. I'm saying that I _don't want to_."

"You don't have to!" She threw her hands into the air. "This is _Hawaii_, Clarissa. You don't have to wear the clothes I wear, but try and loosen up! It's not fun taking romantic walks on the beach with your boyfriend in sweats and dirty T-shirts. Buy some dresses, cool sandals, swimsuits that you wouldn't be afraid to show off in public!"

Clary scowled slightly. "Jace doesn't care what I wear."

"Personally," Izzy said, "I think that's only because he'd rather you wear nothing, b—"

Clary was about to shout something back—she was _really_ getting enraged—but a voice broke through their quarrel, causing both girls to stop and turn.

"Tsk, tsk, you two! Quiet down. I can't hear the music."

Standing between the lacey underwear and studded belts was a girl. She looked about sixteen years old, with hair that was wavy, black and went to about the middle of her back and cast shadows on her high cheekbones. The girl's face was oval and pale, cream like Isabelle's, but freckles scattered across her tiny bunny nose. Her eyes were the color of the sky before it rains, rimmed with coal eyeliner, maybe even threatening. In fact, Clary would have backed off if it wasn't for the joking grin spreading across the strange girl's face.

One of her front teeth was chipped.

Isabelle had a strange look on her face, like she was trying to decipher some hidden code written on the girl's forehead. "Your name is…?"

"Bryar," she said, the smile slipping away, changing into a look of curiosity. "Bryar Meredith."

Something clicked in Izzy's mind and her eyes widened with realization, but she didn't have time to speak before another girl appeared.

"BRYYAAAR! They actually have the wedge sandals I was looking for!"

Appearing at Bryar's side was another girl, holding up a pair of neon pink wedge shoes. She had strange dirty-blond hair that was pulled back into a curly ponytail, a round face full of freckles. Though she looked the same age as Bryar—and just about the same height—there was a certain quality about her that made it seem as though she was younger. It could have been the cartoon pig shirt, or maybe the bubbly attitude, but the two girls looked like polar opposites.

The blond girl was about to say something else to Bryar when she saw Clary and Isabelle standing there with odd looks on their faces.

"Sorry…" The girl blushed and glanced unsurely over at her friend.

"It's alright, Alis, darling." Bryar's eyes twinkled for a second, but then fell back upon Isabelle and her face was once again contemplative. "I was just talking to Clary and Isabelle."

Both of the other girls popped their mouths open in astonishment.

"Don't look so surprised." Her huge grey eyes blinked. "You're both pretty famous."

Suddenly, a large cat-like smile stretched across Isabelle's face and she cocked her head. "Shadowhunter."

Bryar swept into a sarcastic bow, black hair falling into her face. One of her arms brushed the blond girl's shoulder. "Bryar and Alis Meredith, keepers of the Hawaiian Institute, at your service."

Clary couldn't help but furrow her brows in astonishment. "Neither of you look old enough to actually be registered as the head of an institute."

"We're not _actually_ the keepers. That's our brother, but he's always away in Idris, so we're in charge." The darker of the two sisters shrugged.

"No wonder I recognized that name…" Iz said to no one in particular, casting her eyes distractedly over at the other side of the store.

"So what are you two doing here?" Alis tucked a stray bit of blond hair behind her ear.

"Here as in this store?" Clary sighed at Isabelle, who had wandered off to look at corset tops. "Izzy dragged me."

The other girl grinned. Unlike her sister, her teeth were near perfect. "I take it Target's out of the question for her, huh? That's how Bryar is."

Alis and Clary glanced over at Bryar and Isabelle, who were looking at the same selection of corsets. True, their styles weren't identical, but there was something they had in common. Bryar was in a pair of tight black jeans that didn't look exactly cheap, a T-shirt with some band logo on it, a cape tied around her neck, and several necklaces made out of tiny chain links.

"Is the cape really necessary?" Clary wondered aloud, frowning at the girl's fashion choice. "It's a bit…unsettling."

"That's what I tell her every day, but she won't listen." Alis crossed her arms. "You should see her _room_."

Clary had a feeling she didn't really want to.

Apparently, taking her eyes off of Isabelle for one second wasn't a good idea, because when she turned back to look, Isabelle was coming at her, arms full of clothing.

"I've got some clothes for you to try on," she said, dumping the majority of the clothing in Clary's arms.

"Ooh, can we come along and help you shop?" Alis skipped a little in excitement.

Before either of the other girls could answer, Bryar came over to her sister and held up the leather dress Isabelle had pointed out earlier.

"Do you think this would look good on me?" she asked, smoothing it down over her chest.

There was an awkward moment of silence between the three other girls as they blinked at Bryar.

"What?" She frowned.

Though the agreement wasn't exactly spoken, Bryar and Alis Meredith tagged along on the supposed "shopping spree". Funnily enough, Bryar and Isabelle argued the entire time Clary was sitting in the dressing room, still fully clothes, wondering absentmindedly if she could escape while they were distracted.

_Rap rap rap_.

Clary's head jolted back up at someone tapping sharply on the stall door.

"Clary, are you done changing yet?" Izzy's impatient voice rang tinny in the cold, yellow dressing rooms.

"Not quite." Letting out a huge sigh, Clary shoved the pile of potential clothes off of her lap and began wiggling out of her cotton dress.

"Come out to show us when you're done."

"Yes, Mother…"

Clary had always hated going shopping. Her mom had always insisted on seeing every piece of clothing that she tried on, and unfortunately, that included bras and underwear. Jocelyn was to blame for Clary's forever hatred of dressing rooms.

After the girls left, Jace had taken his own taxi to the city and had contented himself with lurking around in dark alleys. Strangely, he'd run into no demonic activities and eventually got bored with the lack of blood. Letting his glamour fade off, he found himself in the mall food court, eating sweet potato fries and thinking about how horrible they were compared to the places in New York.

There were some girls in the food court. Four of them. Wearing scraps of pink clothing and makeup in such a way that Jace was sure they hadn't been using it long. Not to mention they each looked about twelve, huddled into a single booth staring at him and giggling.

Now that Jace had a reason _not_ to, he didn't flirt back, even if they had been maybe five years older. On the contrary, he did his best to pretend they existed at all. None of the girls seemed at all miffed by that; they continued staring and giggling until Jace finally got uncomfortable and had to go, leaving the four middle school girls staring at his back over Oreo milkshakes.

After walking around in the mall for a few minutes, Jace came across a store on the other end of the mall. He could practically _smell_ Isabelle all over it. Being confident enough in his masculinity, he found nothing wrong in waltzing into a shop full of lacy women's underwear and spiky boots and corsets that opened at the chest. Sure, he got many weird looks from the people standing behind the counters, but he kept ignoring them.

Jace could hear the familiar girls' voices halfway across the store.

"…are, and I think it makes you look at _least_ a C," Isabelle's voice said loudly from the dressing room.

"I don't care how big it makes my chest look; I feel like a slut," Clary said, taking on a slightly whiney tone.

"You don't look like a slut. And besides, I'm wearing a top identical to that, and _I_ don't look like a slut."

"…Iz, I'm not—"

"It looks _wonderful_ on you. Ooh, and I saw a great pair of boots to go with outside! I'll get them."

Jace was trying not to laugh out loud, but when Isabelle came fluttering out with a sneaky grin on her face, he couldn't help but snigger.

"Jace!" Izzy said, clearly surprised. "What are you doing here? Never mind." She grabbed a pair of chunky black boots sitting on a shoe stand behind him and scurried back inside the dressing room. "Wait right there!"

From behind the door, Jace could hear Clary complaining.

"I don't like this, Isabelle…"

"Oh, come on." An unfamiliar, feminine voice chimed in enthusiastically. "You look hot."

A yelp of surprise came from inside and suddenly the door swung open. Isabelle was shoving Clary, who was protesting. Two girls Jace didn't recognize followed—one who looked like a female version of Andy Sixx, and the other, who was a polar opposite.

"Jace," Isabelle turned Clary to face Jace. "Don't you think Clary looks hot?"

Clary, who looked genuinely surprised to see her boyfriend standing there, was in something you wouldn't consider her usual "garb". A tight, forest green corset top gripped her chest and stomach closely, leaving her shoulders and arms bare.

On the bottom half was what looked like sturdy blue jeans, but were in fact made out of much tougher denim that clung to her shape but allowed for movement.

The boots completed the look.

Izzy gestured to all of Clary's tiny body and looked back up at Jace for confirmation. "Doesn't she?"

Clary looked uncomfortable, but Jace had to raise an eyebrow and look her up and down.

"…Yeah. Yeah, I think she does." He nodded, as if it was a fact that any person would be happy to point out.

"See?" Isabelle patted her friend's red curls with triumph. "You're hot. Now go back inside, I want to see how that dress looks on you."

"Not the dress…" Clary whined, but shuffled back inside, attempting to hide her red cheeks from Jace.

"We'll be out in half an hour," Izzy flashed her brother a brief smile, but before ducking back inside the dressing room, she paused. "Oh, and by the way, this is Alis and Bryar Meredith. They belong to the institute here."

It was hard to act perfectly normal when Jace could see that look on Alis' face (Bryar seemed uninterested to the point of insolence), but he greeted them and waved all four girls back.

But before Bryar disappeared, Jace turned around again. "Make sure Clary gets something she actually wants, okay?"

Smiling for a moment, the girl nodded and brushed a bit of black hair out of her eyes. "We will. Don't worry."

**oOo**

_That ended rather awkwardly…. Just to warn you people, this next little bit is going to be stretched out, because I've never been a graceful at transitions with shopping parts of stories. XDDXD So bear with me!_

_OH, before I go, there is something I need to giggle about with you guys. Someone said that Jace and Clary shouldn't behave… I'm just wondering how far you people want me to go. I was thinking a nice makeout session? More? A proposal might be in order… Teeheehee._

_LOVE YOU ALL. Have a lovely holiday!_


	8. Chapter 8

_I have the most hilarious insight on how you guys think of Clary and Jace. Thank you. I'm going to go bury my head under the covers and cry now. Hoohoohoo…_

_Sorry it took so long. I'm back now! Hooray! _

**oOo**

"We have to hit a few more departments and then we should be good for now," Isabelle said, sucking on a mango smoothie and looking up at her brother.

Jace was leaning back in the booth of one of the many casual restaurants, one arm slung around Clary's shoulders. "How many is a few?"

"Well," Bryar Meredith, who had accompanied the group to lunch, peeled a tomato off of her burger and ate it. "There are still pajamas and swimsuits that need attending to."

"I was asking Isabelle."

"Don't be so rude, Jace," Clary scolded while attempting to reassemble her wrap, which had fallen apart when she tried to pick it up. "Bryar and Alis are shopping with us."

"And have excellent taste in clothing, might I add," Izzy said with a smirk.

Clary knew what she meant. After a lot of bickering and whining, Bryar managed to get her into an outfit that included a billowy black shirt that had black pearls and complicated lace on the parachute sleeves, black suede trousers and a pair of knee-high boots that had buckles all the way up and thick four-inch-high heels. Though Clary swore she was never going to wear any of that, Iz had approved of the Meredith girls a lot more after that. They spent the next half-hour conspiring and sharing plans like they'd been best friends all along.

Alis, who thought nothing of Jace's rudeness, sucked on a cherry from her limeade. "…_I _need more pajamas."

Bryar looked exasperated. "Alis, darling, you have more clothing than Target does. I think one less pair of pajamas would do good for your poor bursting closet."

"But I saw these amazing shorts the other day that had pigs wearing sunglasses on them!"

"Enough with pigs. I can't even eat a pork chop because of your obsession."

Isabelle and Clary exchange odd glances. Secretly being a demon hunter was different enough for Hawaii, but having an obsession with pigs was over-the-top weird.

Raising a thin eyebrow, Alis sat back in her seat. "Yet, you sleep with a stuffed gorilla named Tatu."

"Shut _up_." Bryar stood up, pointing at her sister threateningly. "This conversation is over."

"What conversation?" Alis smiled innocently.

"Exactly."

Clary shifted uncomfortably under Jace's arm and took a drink of water. "I, um… I don't think I need any more pajamas either. Or swimsuits."

"Oh, yes you do. Don't think you're getting out of this." Iz gave Clary a look and then turned to Bryar. "Guess what she wears swimming."

Putting on a slightly worried look, Bryar asked. "What?"

"Shorts and a T-shirt."

It was comical the way both Meredith girls gasped, but Bryar seemed more horrified than her sister.

"That's practically a _sin_," she said, looking at Clary in astonishment. "If you wear that swimming in _Hawaii_, I'd hate to see what you wear back in New York."

Attempting to be unaffected by the usual jabs at her clothing choices, Clary shrugged. "If you swim in any kind of water in New York besides your bathwater you're likely to turn into some kind of sewer mutant."

Jace snorted.

"True as that may be, it still gives you no excuse for frolicking the beaches of Hawaii in clothes like you do."

Alis giggled.

"Well…" Tapping the lid of her coffee with a fingernail, Bryar peered at her fellow Shadowhunters through her thick eyeliner. "If we're all done, we should head over to pick up the last on the list."

"_I'm_ not done," Jace pointed out.

Everyone ignored him, and the booths cleared quickly as they stood up. The girls tossed their empty cups into the nearest trash bin as Jace stuffed the last of his fries into his mouth. After tossing a couple dollars onto the table, Clary let Jace take her hand and drag her back out of the restaurant. The only supposedly good thing about shopping any more was that he was going to be with her. She tried to forget the fact that it was bathing suits and pajamas, and that she was going with Isabelle and Bryar

"What about this one?" Isabelle held up a swimsuit to show Clary.

They had been in Target for less than fifteen minutes and their shopping basket was already overflowing with to-be-tried-on clothes, most of which Clary didn't agree with.

She looked over at the bathing suit Izzy was showing her and wrinkled her nose. "Try…more material."

Isabelle huffed. "It's not _that_ immodest."

It really was.

Alis, who was standing a ways off at another bathing suit rack, went over to the others and offered Clary a black shorts-and-string-top set. "How about this?"

Clary actually considered that one. "It's nice, but…I don't think I have the boobs to fill out a string-top like that."

Of course, everyone glanced at her chest to see if she was telling the truth. Jace was the one to break the silence.

"Well, _I_ think you do," he said, shrugging casually. "Just saying."

"Maybe you should _stop_ saying." Clary was blushing furiously and shoved the bathing suit into the cart just to appease Alis. "My chest is private matter, thank you."

"It wasn't private last week."

"Jesus Christ, Jace!_" _She smacked him good and hard on the arm.

They both knew that they hadn't ever slept together, but the three other girls didn't, and they were grimacing awkwardly, shifting on their feet. Except for Isabelle. It looked as though her upset was barely contained.

"He's just joking," Clary mumbled, and took the shopping cart several racks over to angrily rummage some more.

"Clary, I, uh…I don't think that your cart will fit anymore." Alis shuffled after her unsurely. "Maybe we should just try what we have so far?"

Clary huffed. "…Alright." And without turning to look at the other Shadowhunters, she took the basket and began in the direction of the dressing rooms.

Jace, Isabelle, Alis, and Bryar followed.

"Make sure to come out and show us when you're done!" Bryar said, attempting to ignore the previously made comment. "I want to see _each suit_."

"Yes," Jace agreed, folding his arms.

It was hard to be angry at him for too long. Letting out a sigh, Clary sighed and hunched into the changing stalls in defeat.

It took a great deal of time, but at last, the five finally managed to stumble out of the mall, numerous bags slung over their shoulders and arms, babbling like a bunch of—well, like a bunch of teenagers.

"That was most interesting," Bryar said when they hauled everything onto a bench outside the mall. She was smiling through her makeup, which was smudged so bad she'd had to wash it all off in the bathroom. Personally, Clary thought she looked better in it, and more like her sister.

"The fact that I now have enough clothes to fill three closets back home?" Clary sat down on the bench next to the bags and massaged her aching feet, which surely had blisters. "Or did something else interest you?"

"No, that was about it." Bryar grinned. "Not to mention meeting the oh-so-famous Clary Morgenstern and Jace Herondale."

Clary and Jace's smiles vanished for a minute.

"We don't go by those names," Jace said, eyebrows furrowed with annoyance. "It's Fray and Lightwood."

"And I'm not famous?" Isabelle interjected, also frowning.

Bryar was about to answer uncomfortably when Clary shook her head.

"Never mind." She flicked her hair behind her ear and glanced at Alis briefly. "You two are going back to the Institute?"

Bryar and Alis nodded.

"I need to get into my new pajamas pronto before they lose that store smell," Alis said brightly, rummaging around in one of the plastic bags and pulling out a pair of pink pajamas she'd described exactly earlier at the restaurant.

Her sister gave her a disapproving look. "Store smell? Never mind, I don't want to know." Bryar turned her head back to Clary and swept her thick black hair back impatiently. "Yes, we're going back to the Institute. It's in the opposite direction from you, so I suppose once we manage to get a cab, this is goodbye."

"There's one." Izzy pointed.

The cab driver appeared to be asleep, head propped against the wheel.

"Go ahead." Bryar waved at them dismissively with a hand. "We'll wait for the next."

After gathering all of the clothes up once more, Clary and Jace and Isabelle stood.

"We _must_ go shopping again," Isabelle said, grinning, displaying perfect white teeth. "It's nice having someone other than this stick in the mud." She bumped Clary with her hip.

Jace put on his indignant, sexy, raised-eyebrow look. "What about me? I think those jeans made my butt look really good, don't you think?"

No one answered. her room and sprinted after Clary into _her_ room before she could get the chance to lock the door behind her.

"Wait, Clarissa," Izzy said, bursting her friend's door open and skipping inside. "You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?"

Shoulders slumped in defeat, Clary sighed and said, "No… Why are you in here?"

"Your clothes."

"Oh dear." She let out a loud, animal-sounding groan and turned her head away from the numerous shopping bags on her bed as if she couldn't stand the sight of them. "I've looked at clothes enough to last my entire life. And I'm already wearing some for today."

Isabelle put her hands on her hips. "You think you're going training in _that_?"

Clary scowled. "Who said I was training?"

"Our mothers."

"Not _today_."

"They said to obey me, since I'm your guardian."

"You're not my guardian!" She threw her hands up into the air. "We're all the same age!"

Iz just rolled her eyes and shook her head like Clary was stupid. "I'm eight months older than you, and even though Jace is one month older than I, he acts like a fourteen-year-old around you so I'm in charge of both of you. And I say we train today."

"Jesus, you're stubborn." Clary didn't bother whining and arguing anymore because the other girl would just get angrier. So instead, she let out another groan and threw her arms up in the air again. "Fine. I'll train with you."

"And Jace." Izzy said, letting a sly smile creep across her face. "Jace is training, too, so you don't have _that_ much reason to grouch about it. But come on. You _must_ see that one simply cannot train in a thin cotton dress and bare legs. You'd get shredded to bits."

"We're working with blades today?" Those were a lot more fun than trying to balance fifteen feet up in the air on a wooden pole as thick as your thigh.

Rummaging around in her friend's plastic shopping bags, Iz didn't bother lifting her head to answer. "No. Taekwondo."

Great. The one thing Clary hated more than balancing. Not only was she at a disadvantage being the shortest of them all, but she was clumsy with her bare hands. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Isabelle?" Taking a seat on the bit of bed space that wasn't covered with bags. "Taekwondo doesn't shred people to bits. Or at least…It shouldn't."

After pulling a pair of spandex and an incredibly expensive sports bra and handing them to Clary, Isabelle shrugged. "One can never be too careful."

"Well, we should be off. It was nice meeting you guys." Clary found it easy smiling and waving at the strange Meredith girls like old friends before gripping her bags better and going after the taxi.

It took what seemed like ages getting back home, and after paying the dark-skinned cab driver, the three Shadowhunters hauled their shopping bags out of the cab and stumbled across the stone walkway up to their rented beach house. When they got inside, Jace tossed his single plastic bag onto the couch and went to find something to eat in the kitchen, Isabelle ran to stuff all of her new clothing in

"You didn't get me a shirt," Clary noted, frowning. "Or are you just planning on me wearing this sports bra outside?"

"You got it, cupcake."

"And you thought I'd get shredded in my _normal_ outfits…" Grumbling, she took the clothes and stomped off to the bathroom to change. Inside, while stripping off her white cotton dress, she called outside to Isabelle, "If we're doing Taekwondo, where does Jace figure in this? You said he's training with us."

There was a muted thump and a rumble of boyish laughter. Jace had obviously came in just then and heard what Clary had said.

"I'm offered as incentive, Clary," he said to her through the bathroom door. "I will be standing off a ways completely naked and Isabelle will be standing between us. Remember what I said about sink or swim?"

"_Jace_," Isabelle scolded him, and then her voice appeared just on the other side of the door like Jace's. "He's joking. He will in fact be wearing many layers of clothing or else he's not allowed to come outside with us."

_That makes one of us_…Clary thought grouchily.

"Then I'll wait inside!"

"No. You will come outside to help us train. Wearing clothes."

"That's no fun, though."

"There's plenty time for fun after training."

"You hear that Clarissa? We can have fun _after_ training. Izzy isn't forbidding me to run around without clothes on after all!"

"Oh, yes I am, Jace Lightwood." Isabelle didn't wait for her brother to answer before knocking sharply twice on the bathroom door. "What's taking you so long? It really shouldn't be that hard changing clothes."

Clary was sitting on the tuned-town toilet seat, arms crossed, pouting. She felt very…exposed in just the sports bra and spandex. Though she inwardly knew that the outfit was incredibly comfortable and most certainly going to be easy to do taekwondo in, Jace was going to see her, and she wasn't incredibly enthusiastic about that.

"Clarissa," Isabelle repeated, knocking again. "Get out here."

"I feel naked."

"Well, I'm sure you don't look it. Now get your ass out here or else I'm going to come in there and get you myself."

Wishing she was elsewhere, Clary put on her most annoyed, furious scowl she could muster and stomped out of the bathroom, pausing to point an accusing finger at Jace. "Don't you _dare_ say anything," she snapped, and then stormed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Another round, Clary."

"Hm-mm." Clary pressed her face into the side of her arm and closed her eyes.

After at least two grueling hours of being beaten up by Isabelle and Jace, she'd finally flumped onto the sand, rolled until her back was to the sun, and tried to take a nap. Izzy, however, didn't want her to take any sort of break until she could at least hit one of them.

"You're not getting any better by lying around," Iz said impatiently, tapping her foot. She, too, was in a pair of spandex and a sports bra, but looked much, much better in it. "Get up. One more round and then you can take naps."

Clary flopped onto her back and squinted up at her friend. "It's pointless. I'm never going to learn."

"Not with that attitude, you won't." Without waiting for anything, Isabelle reached down and hauled Clary up onto her feet. "Now come on. Hit me."

Clary tried. Every time she lunged at the other girl her hit was blocked.

Jace was wandering around in circles over to their left, watching each move intently. It was a few minutes in, and Clary hadn't managed to get Isabelle once.

"…Wow, Clarissa, you really suck," he noted.

Isabelle jabbed her hand into Clary's ribs and Clary let out a yelp.

"Jesus, Jace." She gave him a dirty look, rubbing the spot on her ribs. "Way to distract me, huh?"

Jace raised an eyebrow and pointed at her. "You, my friend, are sweaty and half-naked. I don't think _I'm_ the distracting one here."

"Well, you're not the one doing the freaking taekwondo!" Wiping dampness from her brow, Clary rolled her eyes at Isabelle and went to go over to Jace. "What, did I interrupt your pacing?"

"Yes, in fact, you did."

"Sorry," she said, not really meaning it, and went past him to wade into the ocean. Saltwater clung the spandex to her thin legs, sending a wave of cooling her, letting out an irresistible relived, "Ahhh…"

Jace waded contently over to her in his swim trunks, grinning in what seemed to be a amused, bratty way, displaying all of his teeth as he laughed at his girlfriend.

"Here to laugh at me?" Clary crossed her arms, refusing to look at him.

"No."

When Jace said nothing else, she peeked over at him.

Though his voice sounded many feet away, eh was in reality very close to her. Within arms-distance, apparently, because he reached over and pulled her wet body to him. "I thought you did very well, for the record."

Izzy sloshed in front of both of them and rolled her eyes at her brother, flicking a strand of hair from her face. "He's just saying that to get laid, Clarissa. "

"Isabelle!" both Clary and Jace scolded at the same time, but Clary's was embarrassed and Jace was just laughing.

If that were true—which it wasn't—no one showed it for the rest of their afternoon. Isabelle decided to lay off Clary and instead they splashed around in the surf for a while. When they went back inside for dinner, their spandex was soaked and clinging to their bodies. Rivulets of water ran from them; Clary had to go over to the other side of the house and reach into the bathroom by its window to get towels so they didn't get saltwater on the carpet.

Since Jace refused to cook dinner and refused to let Izzy cook dinner and Izzy refused to spend a million dollars on tipping a pizza guy to come all the way to their house, Clary grudgingly shuffled into the kitchen in her pink bathrobe to try and make sandwiches. They turned out somewhat okay, and immediately after eating, Isabelle locked herself in her room and fell asleep sooner than either of the other two Shadowhunters could think.

That left Jace and Clary draped over the expensive white couch in the living room. Clary had her head rested on her boyfriend's shoulder, and after a few minutes of them both in that position, she tucked her knees to her chest and glanced up.

"Maybe we should be getting to bed…" she said, but not meaning it, and snuggled a little closer, managing to get under the curl of Jace's arm.

Jace absentmindedly twirled a bit of Clary's hair around one of his fingers. "I don't see the rush. Izzy's asleep, and I'm not tired. Are you?"

"Not much," Clary tried to convince him, but her words were interrupted by a yawn. "Really."

"Do you want to go outside?"

"And swim again?" She shivered. "I think I'll pass."

"No, not swim."

Jace stood. He was in a pair of gray sweatpants and an undershirt, which stretched almost tight over his muscular chest. There was no denying how gorgeous he was, with wiry arms and golden hair that was growing out in loops, and his cocky half-smile that always managed to make Clary swoon, even though she wasn't the type to swoon often.

He looked down at her and curled his fingers around hers, hauling her upright. "Come on. The sun's just setting."

Wordlessly, Clary let herself be walked outside and down the beach. Warm sand molded between her toes as they walked closer to the evenly beating surf, and the taste of salt was in the air. It was a blissfully warm night, balmy and moist, but not uncomfortable.

About thirty feet from the edge of the surf they stopped and stretched out to watch the sun as it inched towards the water. Jace drew Clary against his side in a display of affection that was always saved for when they were completely alone. It was times like those they felt truly happy; training and hanging around making fun of Simon was fun, but you don't often get time to yourself.

The two Shadowhunters watched as the blue of the sky turned to purple near the horizon, and then pink, and then a violet orange, washing over the universe in a display of a sherbet rainbow.

"You don't get to see sunsets like these in New York very often," Jace said quietly, pressing his cheek against Clary's hair.

"You mean ever." Clary tried to laugh, but it was caught in her throat because she was nervous. Though they'd been together for a while, he still took her breath away.

As the last sliver of gold slipped below the surface and a dark shade of navy spread from behind them, the air grew cooler. It was peaceful outside— temperate but not hot, dark but not pitch-black, utterly peaceful with sensory deprivation minus the sound of waves on the shore like the beating of a giant heart.

Clary laid back and closed her eyes. Like that, under the spotlight of the moon, she fell asleep, the only thing keeping her held onto this earth being Jace's hand around hers.


End file.
